The Choice of Eight
by Lady Arrow
Summary: The Power of Three will not set free. A dangerous Power has blossomed from Darkness, but a stronger Power emerges from Light...The Charmed Ones face a task greater than any before as they try to save the famous Magicked Ones from almost certain death
1. The Vision of Darkness

-1-

A Vision of Darkness

A cold, crisp morning broke over the sleepy city of Maruchan, North Carolina, the local birds awakening to a slight breeze that ruffled the beautiful golden-brown leaves of the trees lining the main road. The last of the swelled morning clouds evaporated in the weak sunlight that was fighting gallantly to warm the city, dissolving into thinness and moisture. Neatly trimmed grass lawns carpeting the properties of the neighborhood sparkled serenely with dew, and the aroma of damp soil lifted into the soggy air and drifted like a ghost into open windows, a messenger of peace to the inhabitants sleeping contently inside.

A family of small, early-rising rabbits scampered across the wide pavement of Thespus Lane, scuffling back and forth, hopping over one another in a content game of leap-frog. Their dirty brown fur coats gleamed as they hurried into the low grass hedges that surrounded an old, but stunningly beautiful house that seemed to be soaking in the loving sunlight. The red-bricked wood glowed warmly as the sun crept reluctantly over the tips of neighboring houses, an early-morning alarm clock. A bed of bright, blooming roses pressed themselves against the side of the two story house, trying to warm themselves after a cold night. Towering over the sloping grass lawn in front was a huge, rough-barked oak tree which was swaying majestically in the wind, the king of the scattered plants and bushes surrounding the property.

Nearby, the River Moss could be heard softly rushing towards the open ocean, eager to join with the sea. The sparkling water splashed lightly against rocks and plants, gurgling as beds of moss tickled it slyly. A few determined fish struggled against the current's strength, fighting to gain the freedom of a still, plentiful lake. Frogs gulped wetly along the bank, occasionally slurping flies for their morning meal, but the only other sound that could be heard was the joyful twittering and singing of dozens of excitable birds mixed with the sorrowful tones of a mourning dove, hooting a sad tune into the otherwise still air.

Should a passerby had strolled past the ancient mansion that morning, wrapped in a scarf, their breath transforming into steam in the cold air, they might have assumed there was no one awake inside. There was not a sound issuing from the place. It's shades on their whitewashed frames were drawn and there was not a movement to be spied anywhere, save for the quick rabbits, who were now popping in and out of the hedges as if playing a game of hide-and-seek, gleefully enjoying the stillness around them while it lasted.

There was, however, movement inside the house. Samantha Miller was making her way around the large, homey kitchen of the Miller Mansion (or M&M as it was fondly called), silently preparing a breakfast of scrambled eggs, pan-fried potatoes and toast with butter and jam for her three sisters. Carefully and quietly, Samantha set a pan on the stove burner, moving slowly lest she awaken her sisters, who had had a long night and needed their sleep. Samantha, or Sam as she liked to be called, was usually the first awake among her sisters, and always liked preparing coffee and breakfast to help her siblings' mornings to be easier and more enjoyable.

Sam was an attractive 21-year-old with a head of flowing auburn hair that fell permanently curled past her shoulders. Her sparkling light blue eyes gazed from behind long black lashes with respect and kindness. She was a small 5 foot 3 inches tall, slim, but well-built, a highly intelligent young woman with a quick wit. Her smooth, tan face shone with beauty and kindness and was often smiling, showing off beautiful white teeth.

After slowly cooking hash browns to perfection, Sam pulled open a carved cupboard above her head and selected a jar from the dozens lining the shelf in neat rows. She smiled as she examined the capsules, each filled with a different herb, powder, or liquid, labeled neatly, and perfectly organized in alphabetical order. The jars glinted as Sam closed the cupboards, reminding herself to thank Kate for organizing it. Her older sister was very organized and loved to clean. Sam was quite pleased that the herbs were neat. Now she wouldn't have to waste time searching for ingredients when concocting potions.

Returning to her steaming potatoes at the stove, Sam opened the jar, pulled a stem of rosemary from it and began pulling springs apart and sprinkling it onto the potatoes to give them a tangy flavor. She held a piece of the rosemary to her nose and inhaled lightly, savoring the wonderful scent of her favorite herb.

"Smells good, Sammie," A quiet voice exclaimed behind her. Surprised, Sam turned around to see Kate sitting at the scrubbed wooden table, reading the morning newspaper quietly. The second-born Miller, at 23 years of age, was taller than Sam, but only just, at 5 feet 4 inches. Her light brown hair was cut at the shoulders and was often pulled back into a ponytail at the back of her head. Kate's large, brown eyes were filled with an intelligence beyond her years and were usually staring into a book or out into the distant horizon. She was a quiet young woman and seldom spoke around strangers or in crowds., and even though she could be hard talking with her sisters at home, she usually didn't talk unless replying to someone. Her pensiveness earned her the nickname of The Quiet One among the magical community, most commonly around the Elders, the "head hanchoes" of the magical world.

The Miller sisters were witches-good witches of course,- but not just any witches who uttered spells and stirred at potions. They were the most powerful witches in the world, only perhaps surpassed by the famed Charmed Ones, and had been born with powers and gifts with the destiny of protecting innocence and helping fellow witches and magical beings fight against Evil. It had taken years to control their separate powers and even longer to understand them, but they understood that the well-being, or even the entire existence of the world and, at times even the universe lay in their hands. Called the Magicked Ones, the sisters fought to conceal and protect the world of magic that they knew. The Elders helped to hide magic from mortals, though many times, their laws seemed more of a nuisance than a help to the sisters.

Kate had the power of telekinesis (the ability to move things with her mind) and premonition (the ability to see into the future.) Kate was powerful and strong and it was sometimes fortunate that she was quiet and kept a low profile because their demonic enemies often underestimated her powers and her ability to fight. They don't consider her as a major threat until they are laid out on the ground, the end of an attack silently placed by Kate.

Her younger sister, Samantha, had the power of levitation and the gift of herbal knowledge. She was the one who concocted the potions she and her sisters needed to vanquish demons with, using the herbs, powders, and other ingredients to their full purpose. Her knowledge of all plants also aided her making of potions to help mortals, not to mention aiding the makings of delicious meals for her family's enjoyment.

Samantha smiled graciously at her sister's compliment. "Thanks. I'm making your favorite: potatoes and eggs along with freshly toasted toast. Oh, thanks a lot for reorganizing the Herb Cabinet. It's beautiful."

Kate laid down the paper, cheeks reddening slightly from embarrassment. "Do you really like it? Is it organized ok? I was a little unsure of how you wanted it, but I thought alphabetical would work better for you."

"Of course it is! No one cleans or organizes better than you do. I love it. It will be so much easier to find things for spells and potions now. I kind of made a mess before you cleaned it. Anyway, it was really great of you."

Kate tried to hide a smile as she blushed more. "You're welcome. It was no big deal. Really."

Sam grinned at her sister's humbleness. "How about some breakfast?" She asked Kate kindly, holding a spatula aloft.

Kate nodded. "Yes, please," She answered, placidly, before burying her head in the newspaper again. Sam laughed to herself, heaping a hot plate with the perfectly cooked potatoes, a soft, impeccable egg, and a slice of crisp, crunchy toast, buttered and sprinkled lightly with cinnamon. After filling a mug full of the black coffee, Sam poured a small amount of cream in and added a sprinkle of sugar before stirring it carefully. She walked over to the table and placed the meal in front of her sister.

"Thanks," Kate muttered, then continued reading, turning the page of the newspaper. Sam went back to the coffee maker and poured some into one of her favorite mugs before crossing to the table again. Sitting down opposite Kate, Sam put her palms against the mug, warming them, and tried to strike up a conversation with her quiet sister.

"So, anything interesting in the news today, sis?"

Kate didn't answer. Assuming Kate was immersed in a story, Sam repeated, "Kate?" Again, Kate didn't answer. Eyebrows furrowing, Sam leaned forward across the table and pulled the top of the newspaper down to see her sister's eyes shut tightly and her hands grasping the edge of the papers, so tightly that the sheets were crinkling. "Kate, what-" Sam started to speak, but suddenly, Kate's eyes opened and she let out a harsh breath. And Sam understood. Kate had had a premonition. "Kate, sweetie, what did you see?" Sam asked, taking firm hold of her sister's trembling arm.

"A boy," Kate replied, shakily, her eyes wide and face lined with worry. Suddenly realizing what she had seen, she looked down at the page of the newspaper she was holding and said, "This boy." She pointed out a young boy in the black and white photograph to her sister. Beneath the picture of a dozen young boys and girls standing together smiling, the heading read, "_Philip Lightman is among those selected for the Good Child Award at Maruchan Middle School."_

"Lightman?" Sam repeated, standing up and crossing over to stand behind Kate and read over her shoulder. "Didn't Mom and Dad know them?"

Kate, her thoughts still on her premonition, shook her head, puzzled. "No, but it sounds familiar. Like they're...I don't know...maybe I'm just imagining it, but I think we know them from somewhere." Her voice trailed off as she focused on the picture again, her eyes squinting in concentration and her brilliant mind working furiously to figure it out.

After a few awkward seconds in which Sam quickly read the small article, she put a hand on Kate's shoulder before asking, "What attacked him?"

"A demon, but one like I've never seen before. It had...well, what looked like fire across its face. He was huge, not only in height but also in width and carrying a stick, or a scepter or whatever you call it. I think the attack happened down by the River Moss, in the place where Mom and Dad..." Her voice cracked, but she coughed in an attempt to cover it, then continued, clearing her throat. "In that open area with the huge boulder we used to slide down. The demon blasted Philip with an energy ball and killed him." She pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear in concentration, trying desperately to remember the details, since she knew that details could mean the difference between life and death.

Sam straightened abruptly. "Well, we have to go save him. He's our innocent now, so we have to protect him. Let's go wake up Heather and Lucy, then we can-" She was halfway to the stairs when she stopped and saw her older sister shaking her head.

"We don't have time, Sam. We have to go right now if we have any chance to save him. The attack happened before the morning was up. Now is all we have."

"Kate, you said it yourself: You've never seen the demon before. He could be extreamly powerful, more powerful than we could expect. If just the two of us went, it could be very dangerous. Kate, it's suicide. You're the only one with an active power between us, anyway. We need Heather and Lucy." Sam retorted, skeptically.

"I'm sure we'll be fine. Besides, you know that an innocent comes first, even before our own lives. We've faced demons on our own before this one and we've beaten them. Come on." Kate got up from the table and walked past Sam into the entrance hall of their home. She picked up her car keys from a table beside the door and got her coat before opening the door for her sister.

"Yeah, well, they weren't as powerful as you make this one out to be," Sam muttered under her breath so that Kate couldn't hear. She knew that her older sister had the last say in things because once her mind was made up, no one could change it. So, she swallowed the feeling of doubt building inside of her with difficulty and followed her sister. Something wasn't right, and a nagging feeling inside her told her to wake her other sisters, but she suppressed her urge to tell her Kate, pulled her jacket off the hook above her head, and walked through the doorway into the sunlight. "Ok. Let's go save an innocent."


	2. The Glade

-2-

Fifteen minutes later, Kate pulled the car up to a bramble of prickly bushes that were tangled on the banks of the swift running River Moss. The water was sparkling in the mid-morning sunlight, alive with aquatic life, the abode of frogs that were croaking wetly in the shallows, and of the salmon who were taking a short rest before the rest of their trip towards a lake. The low bushes creaked and crinkled in the air,m shaking out pesky insects from their depths. A tiny grey squirrel darted across the damp grass and scampered quickly up a smooth-barked tree, yapping its disgust at the car with its passengers parked under his tree. There was no sign of a demon anywhere.

Sam unbuckled her safety belt and leaned forward to peer out the window. "Is this the place from your premonition?" She asked, her eyes sweeping the still surroundings alertly.

Kate looked out of the window too. After a few seconds, she shook her head. "No, but the place is near by. We ave to go out there and look or that boy is demon meat. Come on." Kate began to get out of her seatbelt, but Sam put a restraining hand on her shoulder.

"Kate, are you sure about this? Are you sure we're anywhere near the place? I mean, Moss is miles long-"

"No, it's nearby. I have a feeling." Kate lightly shrugged off Sam's hand and opened the car door. "It's close. Come on. The longer we hang around here, the more danger that boy is in."

Together, the sisters set off down the warm, golden bank of the river, senses alert and eyes peeled for any sign of movement. Sam glanced back over her shoulder nervously, the feeling of being watched about her, but there was no one there. Grasping hands, they continued silently until Kate suddenly stopped and jerked her younger sister behind the nearest tree, a large, dead pine that towered over the glen. Before Sam made a noise of surprise, Kate's hand was over her mouth, stifling it. Putting a finger to her own lips, Kate slowly removed her and from Sam's mouth and pointed.

There, sitting happily on the white sands of the River Moss, playing with something in his fat hands was a little boy. He was young, little more than eight years old, sandy-haired with a pudgy face covered in auburn freckles that made him look almost tan. His round face was alight with happiness and contentment as he picked the object up, and tossed it into the air. It glinted in the bright sunlight, then fell to the sand again. The boy held it up to his eyes then, and examined it as carefully as a small boy could.

Sam narrowed her eyes in concentration. She was puzzled. Why would this boy be a threat to Evil? She turned to her sister. "Kate, is that him?" When Kate, also focusing on the boy, nodded, Sam continued. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let' get him out of here!" Sam started to walk forward out from the cover of the tree, but almost instantly, Kate's hand closed around her wrist and jerked her back, staring dumbstruck at the tree opposite them. Sam, indignant and confused, turned her head to see what her sister was looking at. And she saw.

A wave in the air had appeared next to the tree, a shimmer. Sam gasped as the shimmer evaporated. Standing in the space next to the tree was a demon, six feet tall, broad shouldered and powerfully built, with muscles prominent, even under the long, black robes that cloaked his bent form. Across its ugly, white face was a tongue of flame tatooed, glowing red. In its long, grey, sickly fingers, it twirled a thin, wooden staff with an ebony stone capping the end, glittering ominously in the light. Oblivious to everything around him,the demon's bright yellow eyes flashed to the boy, who was still ignorant to his surroundings. Upon seeing the boy, seemingly alone on the forest floor, the demon's thick mouth twisted darkly into an evil grin that revealed its rotten, yellowed fangs.

"Oh boy," Sam hissed, turning to her pale sister. "He's big."

"Sam, that's the one. That's him," Kate whispered, her fingernails digging into Sam's arm.

Sam winced and peered around the tree again, carefully. "Ok, Kate. Take a breath." She gently pried Kate's hand from her arm, wincing again as she massaged it. "Any ideas how to get the kid out of the way without any of us being blasted?"

Kate stared at the demon, her mind working furiously. "Only one. We have to distract the demon and get the boy. You get Philip. Be careful."

It took a moment for what Kate had said to sink into Sam's brain. When it finally clicked, Sam hissed, "What? Are you crazy? I'm not letting you-" But Kate, ignoring her sister's protests, stepped out from behind the tree. Sam fought the impulse to fling herself after her sister to pull her back, her hands clenched tightly, fingernails digging into her palms, biting her lip until blood was drawn. Helplessly, she watched as her sister stepped into the demon's range of vision.

"Hey. Hi there," Kate sarcastically greeting the demon in a voice Sam had rarely heard from her soft-spoken sister. The demon's head turned quickly at the sound of the voice, but it hid its astonishment well, eyes flashing at the young woman. "Yeah, I'm talking to you," Kate spat. "What's the deal? Why are you hunting this boy? What has he done to you and your boss?"

"He is in possession of the Bright-" The demon began to snarl, but Kate's arm shot out. Her telekinetic power hurled the demon off its feet and threw it through the air, arms and legs flailing wildly. After flying several feet back, it slammed into the ground with a sickening crunch that made Sam wince.

"Haven't you ever heard of a rhetorical question? I didn't want a response from scum like you!" Kate snapped. She quickly swung her head around and glared at Sam with a look that said, quite plainly, to do her job.

Sam jumped out from her cover and sprinted to the boy, jerking him to his feet, and roughly shoving him in the direction they came from. "Get out of here! Quickly! Go!" Startled into movement, the boy hastily thrust the object into his pocket and scampered away out of sight, small legs working hard to move him as fast as they could. Not bothering to watch the boy hurry away, Sam tuned to her sister and viewed the next events with an open mouth.

The demon had lay momentarily stunned on the ground, multicolored leaves and twigs strewn across the ground, but almost as quickly as Kate could blink, it was upright again, breathing heavily. It shrugged its shoulders, as if brushing off a pestering fly, shook its head to clear it, then turned to Kate.

"Pitiful attempt, witch. You won't defeat me that easily," It croaked. Before Kate could budge or even think, the demon had gathered a sphere ball of energy that crackled blue with intensity. In a split second, the crusty palm had flung the energy ball at Kate, who was rooted to the spot. But Sam's instincts kicked in sharply and jarred her into action. With no thought to her own safety, Sam executed her levitation powers and flew through the air. Speeding to her sister, Sam pushed Kate out of the way of the energy ball, but in doing so put herself in its path instead. The electric sphere hit Sam full in the chest, the force of it propelling her fifteen feet back where she slammed into a tree. Kate's scream shattered the air as Sam's limp body slid down the trunk and crumpled at the base of the tree, leaves twining in her bloody hair.

"No!" Kate cried out, lurching to her feet and sprinting to her sister. Dropping to her knees, Kate put her fingers to Sam's neck, checking frantically for a pulse. A hand on her sister's bloody hair, Kate tried hard to find a heartbeat, but before she could, she heard a twig snap. Looking up, she saw, though tear filled eyes, the demon take a step forward, looking triumphant. Instinctively, as if a spirit had taken over her body, Kate stood, anger and anguish coursing through her veins as the realization of what had just happened sunk into her numb brain. Hurtling her arm out and focusing her mind, Kate's powers lifted the demon off its feet again and slammed him into a tree not too far away. The demon sank to the ground, but climbed to his feet again, though slower now, before sneering contemptuously, "I'll be back for you and your sisters, witch! My master won't be happy now that you've left the BrightGleam in the hands of a pathetic mortal boy. You haven't seen the last of me or my Master! Be prepared!" And before Kate could retaliate, he shimmered out of the glade.

Kate stumbled back to Sam and fell beside her, choking back sobs of sorrow at the sight of Sam laying spread-eagled on the dirt, a large, bloody burn puncturing her chest. Placing Sam's head in her lap, Kate checked for a pulse again. There was one, but Kate's sensitive fingers could barely feel it. Her sister was on the verge of death. With a sob of fear, Kate took Sam's limp hand in her own and put her forehead to it. "No," she choked. "No, Sam. Don't go. Sammie, come one, sweetie. Sam! Oh, this is all my fault. Sam!" Quaking with grief, Kate shook Sam, sobbing, "Sam, come on. Wake up, Sam. Please." She put her head against Sam's cold cheek, tears streaming down her face and mingling onto Sam's. Lifting her head, Kate cried out in desperation, "Jay! Jay!" Her voice echoed around the empty glen, a shallow sound in the empty air.

A multitude of bright, white lights danced about Kate, shining brightly, blurred through the tears glistening in her eyes. Gathering together, the lights fell lower as a figure formed, radiating light through the clearing. The lights gradually dissolved into the thin air, revealing a tall, handsome young man standing next to Kate, looking down at her. He was six feet, two inches tall, powerfully built but with a gentle look about his honest features. His neat, sandy hair was cropped close to his head, and his dazzling sapphire eyes sparkled and shone like two indigo stars behind long lashes.

Jay was the Miller sister's whitelighter, the guardian angel of witches, future whitelighters, and future witches. The sisters were some of his charges. As their whitelighter, Jay protected the girls, assisting in identifying demon and friend, helping the girls out of sticky situations, and, perhaps the most valuable asset, healed their wounds with the healing power of angels. But Jay was more than a whitelighter to the girls, in particular, Kate. He was Kate's husband, a title the Elders tried to forbid. Witches and whitelighters were forbidden to fall in love, and could certainly not get married. Rarely did a witch and her guardian marry. In fact, there were only two instances where there was a marriage: the Charmed One, Piper Halliwell, and her whitelighter Leo Wyatt, and Kate Miller and Jay. Both Jay and Kate however, had proved to the Elders that they could be together despite demonic threats and answering other charges, and they would stay true to their destinies.

As Jay looked into his wife's stricken face, he knew immediately that something was wrong. "What?" He asked quickly, in a deep baritone voice that omitted from his throat. "What is it?"

Kate motioned to Sam, barely able to speak for sobbing. "It's Sam. She-she's hurt badly. We have to get her out of here before-" But her plea was cut off by the demon shimmering into the area again, but this time he was accompanied by five demons, each more menacing than the other. Rapidly looking around, the fire-faced demon spotted Kate, then pointed and screamed to his followers.

"There! There is the witch! Kill her!"

Without thinking, Kate grabbed Jay's arm and cried out in panic, "Jay! Get Sam! Orb us back home! Get her out of here!" Jay, however, did not need advice and was already moving. In one fluid movement, he bent and picked up the limp body of Sam, and, as Kate wrapped her arms around him and held on tightly, white lights shimmered about them. The trio disintegrated into the lights, lifted into the air in particals, and orbed out of the glade.


	3. The Twisted Evil

-3-

A dusky underground cavern flicked only with light from flames wavering from torches set into brackets on the stone walls. A slab of rock in the center of the room served as an altar, vacillating in the flickering light. Nothing but dirt covered the ground, imposing dark and evil notions. Around the edges of the room, a dozen inky-black robed demons stood inauspiciously, motionless, but very much alive. They appeared to be waiting for something, or someone, remaining utterly silent, despite there being no one around but their comrades, the servants of the Source.

A shimmer in the air developed and the fire-faced demon appeared, breathing heavily and clutching its robes about itself. It hunched over, as if blocking a burst of air, and peered nervously about the room, expecting to see...

With a blaze of light and heat that made the demon cringe and shield its eyes, a combustion of fire blossomed in front of the stone altar, singeing its sides black, filling the room with a sudden sickly odor. When the flames died down, a dark figure was there, a gnarled, dead-looking claw resting easily upon the rock beside it, shrouded in a flowing black cloak with a hood that hid its face in a black shadow. The figure was short, but his mere presence filled the room with towering authority, the stench of evil clouding the senses of all present. It was neither man nor beast, rather the epitome of all imagined of the deepest, foulest, darkest corner of Hell.

"Back so soon, Justain, my friend? And empty-handed too? I'm surprised at you. I was expecting...company." The rough, raspy sound echoed around the cavern, ringing into every cranny and hole in the stone walls, slithering into each demonic ear like poison through blood.

The demon Justain promptly dropped to his knees in respect, though he was quaking with fear. "Sire," he croaked. Hastily clearing his throat, Justain tried to speak again. "Sire, the witches came as I was about to capture the boy. Two of the Magicked Ones, Lord, I believe the ones they call The Quiet One and The Compassionate One. They attacked me! I-I fought back with all my power-"

"Liar!" The cloaked figure hissed venomously. "You did not fight. You did nothing but run like a coward. Do you know what happens to cowards and liars in my service?"

The demons lining the walls shifted their feet, seemingly eager to see just what happened to cowards. Justain shuddered but regained his composure quickly, fighting to think of a way to redeem himself in the eyes of his master. "My Lord, I killed one of them. I have made them vulnerable again. Now, you can defeat them once and for all. We can attack the remaining three while they are mourning for their sister, then-"

"The Magicked Ones are not my priority right now, Justain! We are after the BrightGleam! Only then can we take over worlds of good and evil and kill all who oppose us. Even the three remaining Magicked Ones are powerful and dangerous. Surely you must know that after the undignified retreat you performed today. Once we have the BrightGleam, the Magicked Ones nor the Charmed Ones can stand up to me! Now, go and find the jewel. Don't fail me again, or you die!" With a roar of noise, the cloaked figure disappeared in a ball of fire.

The demon called Justain shuddered, grateful to still have his life. He was one of the lucky ones. Lucky for him he was valuable to his master. He had killed a Magicked One and, even if his master hadn't said or shown pleasure in the fact that one of his mortal enemies was dead, Justain knew he had done something right. Had his master's mood been any different, Justain would not be shuddering in the Underworld at this moment, for no one failed or disobeyed the Source of All Evil!


	4. Capture

-4-

Capture

Kate felt her feet gently touch the soft carpet of the manor's sitting room as Jay orbed them down again. As soon as the lights around her faded, Kate released her husband's arm and stood back to give him room. Jay crossed to the sofa with Sam in his arms and lay her carefully down. The young woman's head rolled limply to the side, a crimson stream trickling from the corner of her mouth. Kate knelt next to her sister and grasped her cold hand, coking out sobs of grief at the realization of her pale sister's predicament. Jay got to his knees beside Kate and held his strong hands over the unsightly wound on Samantha's chest. A golden glow radiated softly from his palms and over the burn, the healing power of a whitelighter. As the energy flowed into Sam's body, Kate watched with tears rolling down her face.

"Oh my God. What happened? Kate? Jay? What...Sam!" A shaky voice from the doorway caused Kate to jump.

Getting to her feet, Kate ran to her eldest sister, wrapping her arms around her waist and crying into her shoulder. "A demon attacked us when we were saving an innocent. Heather, he hit Sam with an energy ball. It was meant for me but she jumped in front of it to save me. And now..." Kate broke off, sobbing uncontrollably.

Heather Miller, the eldest of the four sisters, held Kate close to her, trying to be comforting, but feeling a rising panic in her heart. At a small, but sturdy 5 food 5 inches, Heather had long brown hair that fell, gleaming, down her back, and piercing brown eyes that radiated her strong will and determination. She was 24 years old and as the eldest Miller, felt that she had an obligation to protect her sisters no matter what the cost, which earned her the title The Responsible One from the Elders. It fit. Kate often teased Heather about "obsessing" over something, most particularly over the doings of her siblings and the cleanliness of the house, but Heather's orderly manner benefited everyone in the household. Her down-to-earth personality did not mirror her power and hatred of evil however. She was often times referred to as the most powerful of the Magicked Ones, strong and willful, determined to fight until the death. Her powers were curiously tied, coincidentally to a mortal while mysterisouly to a magical being, to Piper Halliwell's (the second-born Charmed One). Both Heather and Piper had the powers of freezing time and molecular combustion, or blowing things up. This link with the Halliwell witch was understood only by the highest ranking Elders, and it otherwise might remain baffling forever.

"Oh my God," Heather said again, holding Kate tighter to her, her voice and heart beginning to catch. A graceful hand went up automatically to her mouth as she watched her whitelighter trying to heal her sister. Seeing no progress and panicking, Heather stammered, "Jay, why isn't she healing? She's not waking up. She's not...no!"

"Hang on, Heather," Jay's soft voice restrained any further consternation out of his charge and he concentrated all his mind on the task at hand. After a few silent and tense seconds, the blood caking Sam's hair slowly vanished and the blood at the corner of her lips absorbed magically away. Jay took his hands away when Sam gasped and slowly opened her eyes, breathing sharply. She blinked once, then again, apparently trying to think of where she was, then put a hand to her head.

"Ow," She groaned. "My head hurts." Trying to sit up, she saw Jay next to her, then noticed her two older sisters standing anxiously nearby. "What-what happened?"

Jay helped her sit up and supported her as he replied. "You nearly died, that's what happened."

"Yeah, well, what else is new?" Sam mumbled, steadying herself on the couch.

"Thank God you're alive!" Kate said shakily, pulling out of Heather's hold, crossing the room, and climbing onto the couch to embrace Sam, grateful and relieved that she was alive. "Sam, I thought...I was sure you were..." But she was unable to finish her thought. Instead, she dissolved into tears and buried her head in Sam's chest, shaking with lamentation. Sam folded her arms around her shaking sister and held her tightly, rocking her back and forth, stroking her hair soothingly.

I'm ok now, Kate. We're all here alive. I'm just grateful that you're alive. Calm down, now."

"Don't you ever do that to me again, Samantha Michelle!" Kate shouted, resorting to Sam's full name, angry tears glittering in her eyes, her face shining with moisture.

Sam enfolded her sister in her arms again, laughing quietly. "Kate, you know I would give my life for you." She kissed Kate's cheek fondly.

Heather came forward and made herself comfortable next to Kate, placing a comforting hand on her trembling shoulder and gazing sternly at Sam, though she couldn't keep her own relief out of her voice. "Well, it's lucky that didn't happen today and you're both alive and home. Why didn't you get me and Lucy to go with you? You should have woken us."

Sam shot Kate an "I-told-you-so" look, but Kate, as if reading what was on Sam's mind, said defensively, "Sam, we didn't have time. I told you this morning, the attack happened before daybreak was over. Think about it. If we had gotten there a minute later, Philip would have been demon meat." Kate leaned back so that she was supported by Heather's torso. "But we did save him, even if we didn't vanquish the demon." After she said this, Kate was reminded of what the demon had said. "Heather, the demon said that it would be back for us. He mentioned something called the BrightGleam and said that we haven't seen the last of him. He also said that he would finish the rest of us off before long."

"Well, that's not going to happen," Heather declared, sitting up. "We're not going to be bait to that demonic bastard, that's for sure. We'll have to get him before he gets us."

Sam also chimed in. "I agree. But how-"

"The Book of Shadows, since we don't have anything to scry with," Kate answered Sam's question logically. "Hopefully, there will be a spell or potion or something in there to help us vanquish it."

"Vanquish what?" Inquired a sleepy voice behind them. The youngest Miller, Lucy, walked shuffily into the room, yawning, and promptly made her way to an overstuffed armchair near her sisters and curled up on it. Lucy, at 19 years of age, was still in college at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, studying Art History and nursing, while still trying to master her powers of orbing and the knowlage of spells. She was an attractive young woman, 5 feet 5 inches tall, slim and perfectly built, thanks partly to her being a member of the collegiate soccer team. She looked the oddball of the Miller girls with a head of golden blond hair that dropped (when not dishevilled and tousled from sleep) to her chest. Astonishingly blue eyes stared out at her sisters as she waited for a response from her eldest sister. Lucy was a stubborn girl but not careless in the least, though she sometimes had trouble with her powers. Lucy, while having a passion for witchcraft, also possessed a love for her sisters which was beyond anything in the world. Being the youngest had never drawn teasing or harshness from her sisters and she had never been the person whom everyone vented their feelings on, and Lucy respected them for that. In exchange, she did not want to let them down.

Heather looked over at Lucy and smiled kindly. "Good morning, sleepyhead. How was your sleep?"

Lucy grunted, then yawned hugely again. "Don't avoid the question, Heather. What happened?

"Just a little demon trouble," Heather returned, smiling disarmingly, not wanting to trouble her drowsy sister.

"Heather," Lucy growled grumpily. "I've lived with you all my life, so I know you're lying to me. You're a terrible lyer, anyway. I'm not stupid. Why else would Jay be here? Plus, you're all bunched together, which means it was bad. So, come on. Spill it."

Kate smiled slightly. "Nothing fools you, Luce. I had a premonition earlier, so me and Sam went to save the innocent." Kate filled Lucy in about the events of the morning and what the demon had said when it had departed. By the time she finished her narrative, Lucy was wide awake and listening intently. "And he said he'd be back to finish us off, so we have to get him first. So, first things first. Book of Shadows. Lucy, you go check-"

"I can't, sorry," Lucy interrupted her sister, shaking her head. "I have an important meeting with my lit professor.

Sam sighed. "Come on, Luce. Can't you skip? We might need the Power of Four. That demon's dangerous."

Lucy shrugged apologetically, but she looked truly regretful. "I'm sorry. I've skived off twice already in the past two weeks because of the other demons. I'm sure you can deal with this one. Heather's defeated many demons and she's done it by herself."

"Yes, but those weren't upper-level demons like this one sounds like, Luce," Heather said, shaking her head. "We need you."

Her youngest sister stood up. "Look, if you find anything, or get attacked, call me. I can orb, you know. So I can get here faster than driving. I have to get ready to go. I'm sorry." And with that, Lucy left the room and shuffled up the stairs to her room.

Sam watched her go, then turned back to her eldest sister. "She is a stubborn one."

Heather nodded. "Yes she is. I don't know where she gets it. Mom was never that stubborn." She too stood up, sighing resignedly. "I'll look in the Book of Shadows for anything I can find. Sam, are you sure you're up to this?" Heather asked her sister with concern etched across her smooth face. "I mean, you've been through a lot this morning."

"I'm fine. Really I am. Let's get to work." Sam replied, standing up slowly.

Jay helped her to her feet. As he did, a light sound could be heard above them, like a choir singing mixed with the tinkling of bells. Jay glanced up automatically, as if listening. "Uh, oh," he muttered, looking at his wide apologetically. "The Elders are calling. It sounds important..._very _important," He added.

Kate tried hard to mask the disappointment in her face. She hadn't seen Jay for a long time and she needed him right now. They all did. But what the Elders had to say had to be more important by the sound of it. It could help them defeat this demon, or at least learn of it's intentions. "You should go," she told him, straightening his shirt collar with her elegant hands. "I'll see you soon." She hugged him tightly, putting her nose against his blue shirt and inhaling the heavenly scent that floated about him. The smell of him calmed her down, but made it harder to let him go.

"Be careful," Jay whispered to her. Then, lifting her chin with his fingers, he kissed her passionately. Their lips mingled, warm and tingly, then the white lights floated around them again, tickling Kate's skin, and he felt his lips dissolve into shimmering lights as he orbed out of the house.

Kate could not help staying in the same position for a brief moment, the she lowered her head and sighed, trying not to let her sisters hear, but failing. Sam crossed over to Kate and put a comforting arm around her shoulder, squeezing Kate against her body. Heather began to walk up the stairs as Sam said gently, "Come on, Kate. He'll be ok. You shouldn't worry about him so much. He can take care of himself. Besides, he safe up there."

"I wish I could say the same for you," sneered a low, cruel voice behind them.

Kate and Sam whipped around, startled, their hearts jumping at the mere tone of the sound, and froze at the terrifying sight that met their eyes. Positioned apocalyptically in front of the beautiful carved French doors which lead to a blossoming garden, was an echelon of demons, each draped in a rotten crimson robe with a small stitched pattern on the chest that shined black. In each demonic hand was clasped a long, slender rod, shining silver with anticipating doom. Each face was shrouded in the robe's hood, shadowing every part of their faces, but not hiding the glinting, slitted eyes that glared at the girls. But the demons were not the figures that had captivated the Magicked Ones' attention. Stationed directly in front of the posse of demons was a woman. She was clad in raven-colored robes, her jet hair glistening in a severe knot at the back of her overstretched head. Her lips were painted a blood red that stood out vividly on her colorless, flaky face and matched the extremely long fingernails that protruded from talon-like fingers. Unlike her demonic cronies, the woman was not holding a rod in her claws. They rested, seemingly calm and loose, at her side. The most captivating part of this lurid demon were her eyes: bright yellow, hytpmotising and penetratingly yellow in color, staring at the sisters with hatred and evil sparking in them.

Sam backed up, pulling her sister with her, arms clinging together, both captivated and afraid, but with each step back, the woman took a step forward.

"At last," she simpered. "The Magicked Ones are at my fingertips!" Before either sister could think, the demon threw an energy ball at the,. Kate saw it hiss through the air and pushed Sam out of the way before flinging herself to the side. The energy crackled into the wall behind them, causing flakes of wood and wallpaper to fly in all directions, chips buzzing through the air. Kate pushed herself to her hands and knees and yelled for her sisters urgently.

"Heather! Lucy!" As Kate stumbled to her feet, Heather ran in after almost falling down the stairs in alarm. She took in the scene at a glance as she slid across the room to help here sisters to their feet.

The woman chuckled coldly. "Three to die at once. The more the merrier!" She barked, and flung a knife towards Heather. The young witch gasped in shock and threw up her hands, fingers extended and palms facing each other instinctively. Her freezing power halted the weapon in midair, mere feet from her heart. Next to her, Heather felt Sam and Kate each let out a small breath of relief as they realized the knife had not plunged into their sister's chest. Heather lowered her hands, releasing the knife which fell harmlessly to the floor with a clatter. Hatred etched across her face, Heather took a threatening step forward. "I'll kill you if you try to hurt me or my sisters," She spat, contemptuously.

The woman laughed cruelly and thrust her hand forward, telekinetically sending Heather flying, only to crash into the wall a few feet back. Heather fell to the floor, lying half-conscious on the floor, moaning at the pain building in her neck and head from the collision. As Sam rushed to her sister's side and fell to her knees to check her condition, Kate flung and arm at the woman, her fury sending her enemy careening backwards into a small table. The small piece of furniture toppled over,m taking the woman with it, crashing into the line of demons creating a dominoes effect of one demon falling over the one beside him.

Through the mele, Kate screamed to her sisters, "Go! Upstairs!" She stumbled over to Sam and helped heave Heather to her feet, slinging n arm around her waist and feeling Kate do the same on the opposite side. Heather could barely hold herself up. Instead, she leaned heavily on Kate as they struggled up the stairs, half-dragging, half-carrying her. Managing to make it to the attic, the two girls practically lifted Heather onto a small love-seat and lay her down on it. Their eldest sister had lost consciousness completely on the tedious journey upstairs and lay limp.

The Miller's attic was much like any other attic in the world: cluttered, dusty, full of books, boxes, bags, and mice among other things, with the odd piece of antique furniture here and there. Much of their belongings up here were their parent's; mementos, old clothes and journals, things of sentimental value to the girls. The most valuable object left behind when their parents died was an old book, bound in blue silk with a heavy leather spine. Its numerous pages were yellowed with age, but held information about nearly every demon, warlock, troll, banshee, or level that lived...or had been vanquished. Throughout their years as magical people, their parents and ancestors had recorded every advertisary they had come across, along with the way to kill it. But the Book of Shadows was not just for the tabs of demonic creatures. Good things were described; witches, angels, whitelighters, merpeople, sorceresses, unicorns. The description of anything remotely magical was hidden somewhere in the thick book, which rested on an elaborately carved podium in the center of the room.

Kate skidded to a halt in front of the podium and threw open the Book, her hands quickly rifling through the pages, parchment blurred. "There has to be something in here!" Kate gasped as she skimmed through the Book trying to find a spell to vanquish these new demons with.

Suddenly, the attic door banged open, crashing into he wall from the force. Kate and Sam jumped and Kate's hands rose, preparing to attic, but it was Lucy, who was frantically pulling a shirt over her head. Realizing who it was, the girls relaxed slightly and Kate resumed searching as Sam tried to bring Heather around by slapping her cheeks. "Heather! Come on, Heather, sweetie! Wake up! Come on, Heather!"

Lucy caught sight of Heather struggling to become conscious on the love-seat, Sam standing overhear, shaking her shoulder roughly, and Kate almost tearing the pages of their Book of Shadows to find a spell. Realizing the urgency of the situation, she breathed, "What's going on? What can I do?"

Kate barely had tie to answer, "Demons...attacking. They're coming upset-" in a breathless voice before the door was blasted off its hinges. All four girls knew what was coming. In a whirl of black, the woman and six demons stalked into the room, the woman holding her head high, haughty and arrogant after her earlier embarrassment. The girls gasped and Kate, now fairly flying through the Book, muttered, "Come on! Come on!"

"You're too late, witch!" The woman sneered, and raised her hand. The events that followed occurred almost to quickly to think. The demon's telepathic powers blasted Kate off her feet and into a bookcase. The girl fell unconscious to the floor immediately, showered by books and volumes.

Lucy saw what happened next through terror-stricken eyes. She heard Sam scream her older sister's name and saw her run across the room towards her sister, but the demon's arm shot out again, and Sam was lifted into the air and into a trunk in the corner of the room. She flipped over it and landed painfully on the other side. At the same time, a lightening type of energy shot out of one of the demon's rod and hit Heather full in the chest as she was trying to rise and knocked her out again, causing her to fall into the arms of a nearby demon. Before she had time to scream, or even to think, Lucy saw the demonic woman turn on her. Lucy's feet whipped out from under her and she felt air rushing past her before she was slammed into a wall full-on. Grunting in pain, Lucy slid to the floor limply, sprawling at the base.

Sam, half-conscious, caught sight of her youngest sister hitting the wall, then saw two demons lifting the unconscious Kate and Piper in their arms and shimmering from the room. Just before a demon approached her and cut off her view of Lucy, who was slowly curling up in agony, Samantha shouted wildly, "Lucy! Get out of here! Go find the Charm-" But a single swipe at her head from a demon's weapon silenced her.

Across the room, Lucy had no chance to think. Faintly through the buzzing in her head, she heard Sam's cry. Almost as if someone else had done it for her, she felt her body dissolving into bright, white lights.

"No! Don't let her escape!" A screechy voice whispered in her head. The demonic woman had motioned at her cronies to stop the girl from orbing. Two demons leapt froward, both brandishing their weapons. One shot the same blue electricity that was Heather's fate, the other fired red energy. The blue caught Lucy square in the chest as the red seared into her shoulder, but they were too late in attacking her, for, amid the shimmering lights, Lucy was dimly aware that her body was dissolving and lifting into the air. The lights vanished from the woman's sight as they lifted through the roof and was gone.


	5. Charmed Meetings

-5-

Charmed Meetings

Across the country in San Francisco, California, luscious smells wafted into the noses of neighborhood residents who passed by and old, red mansion that stood magestically above a sloping lawn on an uphill street. This mansion was very similar to the Miller Mansion, the same look, the amount of stones, and used for the same purpose. The delicious aroma of a home-cooked meal floated around the rooms inside,which were ll neatly furnished and lividly decorated with flowers and pictures.

A small, dark-haired woman was standing at a polished black stove in a small, but well-stocked kitchen, slowly stirring the contents of a pot on the fire. Behind her, a small _ding_ sounded. Carefully, she scraped the wooden spoon she was using against the edge of the pot and set it on a small plate before turning and walking to the double oven and bending to open the lower door. The smell of fresh rolls hit her like a wave and she smiled. Her sisters were going to love this breakfast without a doubt. Her long brown hair fell about her face loosely, but she tossed it behind her shoulders, tucking a lock of it behind her ear as she reached into the oven with a mitted hand and pulled out the tray of bread. Placing the tray on the counter, the woman returned to the stove, clicking off the fire under the pot and continuing to stir it until she deemed it satisfactory. Her eyes, a dark, chocolate brown which reflected knowlage and intensity, examined the pot's contents with approval.

Piper Halliwell neatly filled a small basket with the rolls and ladled stew into three pewter bowls,m careful not to spill. The second of the Charmed Ones, Piper had the powers of freezing time and molecular combustion. Though she was sometimes yearning to be a normal, power-free person, Piper dedicated all her strength to saving innocents and protecting her sisters.

Satisfied with her cooking, a hobby she loved and enjoyed (she had once been a professional chef and now owned her own club called P3), Piper made her way into the other room and leaned on the banister of a handsome staircase which lead to the upper floor and shouted, "Prue! Phoebe! Breakfast!" A murmur of understanding reached her ears and she smiled, knowing her sisters would be down eventually. She began to head back to the kitchen, but as she did, a glow of white caught her eye from the living room. Puzzled at this, she entered in there instead, just in time to see the lights of a whitelighters' orb shining in the center of the room. Expecting to see her husband, Leo, who was the Charmed Ones' whitelighter, standing with his arms outstretched to her, lovingly awaiting an embrace, she saw a young woman, younger that she was with bond hair appear. Almost as soon as the lights disappeared, the girl was sprawled unconscious on the floor, scarsly breathing.

Piper's mouth fell open in shock. The girl's hair was matted in blood. Her eyes were closed and her shoulder smoking. Her chest barely moved for breathing. She was bruised, bleeding, and battered as if she had been hit by a truck. Her eyes were closed and every part of her body was limp. Piper didn't think as she barely turned in the direction of the stairs and shouted, "Prue! Phoebe!" again, but urgently. She crossed the room at a run and knelt next to the fallen, injured girl. Hesitantly, Piper touched the girl's arm, but she made no move at all. Frightened without knowing why, Piper then pit a hand to the girl's lips, feeling for any breath that would reveal a sign of life. Luckily, there was sill faint breathing coming from the girl.

Piper had never seen anything quite like this. From the amount of blood, Piper was shocked that this girl was not dead. But how would she have orbed if she was dead? "Prue! Phoebe! Get down here!" She yelled again, starting to panic at the thought of this girl clinging to life in their living room.

"Ok, Piper! Keep your shirt on! I heard you the first t-" A woman with shoulder-length black hair passed by the room, clearly on her way to eat and involuntarily glanced into it on her way to the kitchen, saw her sister on the floor, drenched in the blood of an unconscious girl that was lying in Piper's arms. She backtracked slowly and took in the full scene, her hand raising to her mouth. "Oh, my God," She whispered. "Piper, who is that? How did she get here? How did she get like that?"

Prudence Halliwell, or Prue as she was known, the eldest of the Charmed Ones went over to Piper and knelt beside her, placing a hand on Piper's shoulder to steady herself as she looked at the blond girl. Prue was 24 years old with the light of wisdom and power glowing in her dark brown eyes. She, along with her other sisters, was beautiful with the high cheekbones of a model, though much of the time, her mouth was tight in concentration. Prue's telekinetic powers here incredibly strong, and she was also able to Astral Project (be in two places at once), which proved to be a valuable power. Often Piper and their youngest sister, Phoebe believed that Prue was the Power of One, the strongest of the three and the sole leader of their Power of Three. But Prue denied this. She was kind and modest and carried a sharp wit, often displaying it with and to her sisters. Not wanting them to end up like their mother and grandmother, who both died at the hands of demons, Prue used her powers to her full strength to protect her sisters.

Now, Prue's beautiful eyes stared at the unconscious girl with mixed horror and worry. "Piper, who is that?" She asked again, lightly shaking her sister's shoulder.

Piper had just opened her mouth to reply that she had no idea, when a quite and calm voice said behind them, "She's a Magicked One. The youngest, Lucy Miller." Phoebe Halliwell hurried into the room, carrying a basket with peroxide, gauze, neosporin, and a few damp towels hastily crammed inside it, as if they were thrown in the carrier in a hurry. Phoebe was a lovely young woman, 21 years old, with auburn hair that flowed to her shoulders in waves, and light brown eyes that showed her youthfulness, but also maturity. She was about as tall as Piper, but slightly thinner, though Piper was by no means heavy. Her body was perfectly curved and mature. She was usually smiling, eager to make others grin. Phoebe was able to levitate and also had premonitions of past and future events.

"Come on," Phoebe ordered gently. "Let's get her up on the sofa before we call Leo to heal her."

"Leo's with the Elders, though. He was called about fifteen minutes ago, remember?" Piper reminded her, while helping Prue heave Lucy up onto the couch. The girl felt as heavy as lead even if she was slim.

"Well then," grunted Prue, as she lifted the girl's legs up, "We can at least clean some of her cuts and try to wake her up. How did you know who she is, Pheebs?" She asked her youngest sister, curiosity getting the better of her.

Phoebe gently placed a wet washcloth on Lucy's forehead to speed her return to consciousness and explained. "I was getting ready for class in my room when I picked up my Lit book. I had a premonition of the Miller sisters being attacked by demons. Then I saw them all getting knocked out...or killed...I don't know which, and one orbing away before she was taken. Then, I saw her in here."

"Ok, but how did you know her name?" Piper asked horsely, her eyes wide after Phoebe's views were shared.

"I recognised Heather Miller, since she looks kinda like you, Piper," Phoebe answered, looking at her. "But Lucy is the only one in their family with blond hair, so that was a pretty good give-away."

"But why would she come here, of all the places in this world? Why to us?" Piper asked, sitting on a chair. "They have the Power of Four and they were still defeated. How could the Power of Three protect them any more?"

"Well, Piper, we are the most powerful witches in the world." Prue answered slowly. "No demon has ever beaten the Power of Three."

"Maybe she just orbed here by a whim, by coincidence, without thinking," Piper began, but Prue interrupted.

"Nothing happens by accident. You know that. Everything happens for a reason. Somehow, her destiny is linked with ours. Why else would she be here?" Prue reminded her sister, gently, seeing that she was almost in a panic.

Piper was still unsettled about the fact that another witch was so badly injured and orbing into their home, especially a witch as powerful as they were. "I still don't see why they were defeated. How can we help them if there is a powerful demon working for the Source?"

"Honey, I don't think this could be the Source's work. Even he can't break the Power of Three, so he wouldn't be able to beat the Power of Four." Prue answered, looking increasingly worried, nonetheless.

"Maybe there's a new boss in town," Phoebe offered, touching Lucy's shoulder, which she had been cleaning while her sisters talked. Prue and Piper leaned forward, curious. Scorched into the girl's shoulder, burned as black as a crow's feathers, was a Z, bold and dark, surrounded by many twisting lines and designs. Startled, the sisters looked up at each other in disbelief. All were thinking the same thing. A power greater than the Source?

"Leo!" Piper broke the silence by shouting the name into the air, her voice shaking.

"Uh, Piper, Leo's with the Elders. You just told is that he had something important to do." Prue told her.

"Yeah, I know that, Prue, but this is a little more important than the Elders right now!" Piper retorted, exasperated. "Leo!"

White lights flew around them and gathered, and Leo Wyatt, Piper's husband and the Charmed One's whitelighter orbed into the room, his light brown hair slightly tousled and his lovely eyes clouded with anxiety. He held out his strong arms, shrugging his shoulders. "What?" He asked, clearly irritated. "You know I was meeting the Elders." He turned to look at Prue, then spotted Lucy. He turned pale and grabbed the arm of a chair to steady his suddenly weak knees and muttered, "Jay. They've been attacked."

Piper frowned, not catching what her husband had said. "What?"

"Nothing," Leo answered, hastily.

"Leo," Piper began, but her husband cut in.

"Look, I don't know what's going on right now, Piper, but I'll tell you when I do. What happened?" He added, looking at Lucy.

"Can you heal her?" Prue asked him, grabbing his arm. Leo did not respond, but got to his knees beside the couch immediately and held is hands over their charges' heart. The warm glow of power radiated from Leo's hand and seeped into Lucy's veins, healing her bruises and cuts. The girls held their breaths as the healing power sank deeper into the girl's body, the seconds ticking by, each hoping that Lucy would wake up. Quite suddenly, Leo's golden power cracked, flashing red and gold, jolting him. He yelled in pain as the rays of light grew brighter and the power stronger, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not tear his hands away from Lucy, even though he knew that he was hurting her more. Realizing this, Piper jumped forward and physically pushed Leo away from the couch, breaking the connection.

As Leo lay on the floor, gasping in pain, so did Lucy start awake, her eyes snapping open. Piper was on her hands and knees next to Leo, her hands on his shoulders, supporting him as he clutched his chest, breathing heavily. Prue and Phoebe sat dumbstruck at what hat happened. Then, Prue spoke.

"You're alive. Good."

Lucy became aware of the presences in this strange room. Instinctively, she tried to move, but found that she couldn't. She looked up at the woman standing over her. "I can't move," she said, half to herself, half to the stranger.

The woman's eyebrows furrowed. "You can't?" She looked down at the man lying on the floor. "Leo, why couldn't you heal her?"

Leo gasped and struggled to sit up. "That's the thing. I did heal her, but something inside her stopped me from healing more. I can't heal her paralysis because it's demonic, though I'm pretty sure it will wear off. As for her shoulder, there's something...a chemical or spell in it that I've never encountered before."

It was then that Lucy understood who these people were. She looked at the woman sitting beside her and took in her dark hair and pensive eyes. "Prudence? Prudence Halliwell?"

Prue smiled and brushed a stray lock of hair out of Lucy's face. "Just call me Prue," She corrected kindly.

Lucy's eyes then flicked to the other girls. "So, you must be Phoebe." She said, looking at the youngest Charmed One with awe filling her eyes. "And, Piper." Piper also nodded and smiled, though it was a little forced. She was still concerned about Leo.

"Nice to see you alive," Piper said.

Lucy's head sank back into the cushions and she groaned slightly. "What happened to me? Why can't I move? And why am I here?"

Phoebe furrowed her forehead. "You don't remember anything that happened to you or your sisters?"

At the mentioning of her sisters, Lucy's insides jolted and her eyes grew wide. "Heather! Sam! Kate! Where are they? They're here, right? Are they ok? Are they-"

Prue jumped, startled. "They're not here. They didn't come with you."

"No! They've been attacked! We were all attacked! But they must be here! They must!"

Phoebe took Lucy's face in her hands and looked into the frightened girl's eyes, speaking firmly. "Lucy, look at me. Look at me! You need to calm down! We need you to tell us what happened. That's the only way we can help you. Your sisters are not here, but if you tell us everything, we will do all we can to save them. Just take a breath and calm down. You can't get hurt anymore."

The young woman obeyed and took some steadying breaths, straining her numb mind to remember the events of the day. "Well, I woke up kind of late this morning to voices downstairs. Sam was on the couch, lying down with Kate hugging her. Piper was sitting on the coffee table with our whitelighter, Jay, next to her. That's what I saw when I walked in. They were all talking about vanquishing a demon that had attacked them."

"They were attacked before?" Prue asked, sounding slightly surprised. "By whom?"

"I don't know," Lucy responded. "They never told me who they were looking for. But I went upstairs to get ready for class because I had an early meeting with my Lit professor."

"That would explain my premonition," Phoebe said, quietly, mostly to herself, but Lucy heard and gave Phoebe a quizzical look. "I saw you get attacked, though I didn't see who attacked. Then I saw you orb here."

"I don't even remember orbing," Lucy said truthfully, her blue eyes staring at the ceiling. "I remember seeing Kate and Sam blasted unconscious, then I saw Heather get hit by...well, I don't know. Blue electricity, I guess. She was already hurt, but all of them were taken by demons. I don't know where, but that's the last thing I remember."

"Did you see the person who attacked you?" Pure asked carefully.

"I think so," Lucy answered, hesitantly.

Prue stood up. "Would you remember if you saw them?"

Lucy thought about the yellow evil in the demonic woman's eyes, the blood read of her nails, the crimson of her robe. "It's hard to forget someone like that."

Desicivley, Prue said, "Ok, I'm going to get the Book of Shadows for Lucy to look through." She turned back to Lucy. "Don't worry. I know what it feels like to be paralyzed. I almost married a demon once because I couldn't escape." She smiled at Lucy's surprised expression, then said to her sisters, "Stay with Lucy and protect her. I'll be right back." She left the room, calling over her shoulder as she did, "I'm starving Piper! When's lunch?"

Piper smirked in the direction of her sister, then looked at Leo. "Are you ok, honey? We didn't know what happened."

Leo slowly climbed to his feet, a bit unsteadily, but he found his balance quickly. "I'm fine. Just a little shaky."

His wife gestured towards the kitchen. "If you want to eat something, there's soup."

But Leo was looking towards the ceiling. "They're calling again. I'm sorry. Something big is going on and they need me. They need all of us." He looked at Lucy and said, "Nice meeting you."

Piper nodded to her husband. "Take care of yourself."

"You too," Leo murmured, then leaned forward and kissed her. She returned it, passionately. He orbed out.

Lucy grinned weakly as she watched the farewell, trying to make a more pleasant atmosphere. "Just like my sister," She told Piper. "You know," She said, hastily, when Phoebe's eyebrows knitted together. "My sister, Kate, is married-"

"-To your whitelighter," Piper finished. "We know. It's hard not to hear the stories and rumors about the four Magicked Ones."

"Really?" Lucy asked, and Piper nodded. "Wow," she breathed. "That's pretty incredible. I didn't know that others knew about us, let alone others from across the country. I mean, we've heard about you, of course..."

"As have every demon in the universe," Phoebe muttered.

"...But you guys are so strong. You're stronger than we are and there are only three of you.

"I don't think that's true," Piper countered, sitting down opposite Lucy, who was beginning to feel her body tingling. She wasn't sure weather this was from the paralysis waring off or because of the pain in her shoulder. "You've dealt with many powerful demons before, some more powerful than one's we've encountered."

"You've gone up against the Source and defeated him, though. We haven't." Lucy argued.

"I think we'll all be seeing more of the new Source and this new power in the days to come," Phoebe said, glancing at Piper. "More than we'll ever want. There is more to being a good witch than defeating the Source and comparing demons that we've all faced," she chided Lucy and Piper gently. "You have your family, innocents to save, good things to do in your life. Worry about one thing as it comes."

"And now we have to worry about this new demon," Prue said, walking back into the room, holding the Charmed One's Book of Shadows in front of her, scanning the pages as she walked. "Ok," she said, sliding onto the couch next to her sister and holding the Book for in front of the paralyzed Miller. "If you see anything familiar, tell me. I'll flip the pages for you." Lucy nodded, feeling a bit of shame as she helplessly lay on the sofa. She concentrated, peering at each page long enough to see if the demon they fought was pictured.

After some long minutes, Lucy shook her head, wearily. "There's nothing. She's not in here." She looked up at her three sister witches, panic welling in her chest and fresh tears filling her eyes.

Prue leaned forward. "Well, we haven't encountered this demon before. I've never heard of someone or something so powerful that it can break the Power of Four. But I just thought that maybe Grams or Mom had faced her before, or even some distant ancestor. How has a new evil emerged in the world, and no one has heard about it, not even the Elders?"

Lucy slowly moved her arm. Although she was getting the feeling back in her arm and legs, she was feeling shaky, weak and ill, but could not tell why. "Jay left before we got attacked," She reminded them. "I hope-" She stopped suddenly, lurching forward and clutching her stomach, the movement suddenly flooding back into her muscles. She cried out in pain, shutting her eyes to block out the red fire that blazed across her vision.

Prue leaped to her feet. Their charge could suddenly move, but she was sweating feverishly, gasping in pain like she had been stabbed. Prue reached out a hand to grip Lucy's shoulder, but before her fingers touched, Lucy's hand snapped up and grabbed Prue's wrist, fingernails digging into flesh. As Prue cried out, a voice ommited from Lucy's throat, but it was a very different one than Lucy's. A harsh male voice spat out his threat to the three sisters, using Lucy's mouth and vocal chords to do so.

"Give up the Magicked One, witch! Her destiny is to die! She has the BrightGleam. If you do not obey, her sisters will die slowly and more painfully than you can possibly imagine. Your fate is the same if you do not obey the mighty Zoltof! The darkest corner of Hell awaits all of you if you do not relinquish the Magicked One to us! Beware, witch, and heed my warning!" Lucy's hand cruelly twisted Prue's arm, causing Prue to drop to her knees, gasping aloud at the pain. Then, just before her arm would break, Prue felt the fingers closed around her wrist release her. Automatically, Prue grabbed at her shoulder and looked up and saw Piper and Phoebe, seeing their startled faces as they stared, dumbstruck, at Lucy.

The pain wrenching at Lucy's heart suddenly subsided. Breathing heavily and painfully, Lucy slowly opened her eyes to see the three Charmed Ones staring at her, shock etched across their faces. Prue was on the ground, wincing in pain as Piper touched her arm. Phoebe was staring hard at Lucy, as if trying to break into her mind.

"Wha-what happened?" Lucy whispered, horsely, sitting up slowly. She could move now, though she still felt weaker than ever.

Phoebe stared. "Lucy?" She asked, tentatively.

"Yes..." Lucy began, then realized that something bad had happened, and knew. "Was I possessed?" She asked, dreading but knowing the answer.

"Piper looked over at Phoebe before replying." "Yes, but we don't know who possessed you. Do you remember what you said and did?"

Lucy shook her head slowly. "The last thing I remember is a pain in my stomach, as if I had been stabbed, then, fire across my vision. What did I say?"

"You...well, someone, warned us to give you up, that it was your destiny to die and that you possessed the "BrightGleam". They threatened to kill you and your sisters, and us if we did not give you to them," Prue said, still massaging her arm.

"My sisters! Did they say anything about them?" Lucy asked frantically, sitting up quickly and abruptly. "I need to find them! They could be hurt, or dying even." She broke off, her voice catching in her chest. Phoebe sat on the couch next to her charge, placing a hand slowly on her shoulder, as if afraid that Lucy was going to strike at her too.

"I was thinking. Since you're all related, we could use your blood to-" But suddenly, Phoebe gasped, her eyes shut tightly.

_The vision of a dark, dirty cave filed her mind, walls damp and slimy. Sprawled on the floor, hands bound behind them, lay Heather, Kate, and Sam Miller, each unconscious, each with different wounds and injuries. Another flash showed the outline of a huge demon with burning eyes staring at the sisters, watching them as a smaller demon advanced on Kate with a rod upraised in his tattooed hand..._

Her vision faded and Phoebe snapped back into reality, jerking her hand away form Lucy and finishing her sentence in a hushed voice. "-scry."

Lucy, having seen Kate get premonitions before many times, asked quickly, "What did you see? Did you see my sisters?"

Phoebe looked at Lucy though wide, brown eyes. "Yes. They're alive but only just, held captive by the same demons who burned that Z into your shoulder."

Lucy jumped awkwardly off the couch and stood up, shaking. Phoebe rose to steady her, but Lucy shook her head. "We have to find the,m. We need to vanquish the demon. They'll die. I need them." She whispered, tears glittering in her eyes.

Phoebe gently placed an arm around Lucy's shaking form and said, "We'll use your blood to scry, and if that doesn't work, we'll go to the Underworld and search it."

A sharp cough from Piper caused Phoebe and Lucy to look at her. "The Underworld?" Piper repeated, looking astonished at the very suggestion. "Are you crazy, Phoebe? No one has ever been to the Underworld before. No witch, at least. You expect us to go down there and come back alive?"

Her youngest sister looked pointedly at Lucy, who's cheeks were red and wet with tears of sorrow. "To save three sister witches. Three women who could be connected to us more than we could possibly imagine. They are Lucy's sisters. If we don't come back alive and they do, that's all that matters. If the situation were switched and me and Prue were somewhere down their, you would readily go, right?"

Shame burned in Piper's cheeks, but she kept her eyes hard as she said, "Alright, alright. I get the point. But let's scry first, then call Leo if we have to go down there. At least we have to tell him where we're going." Piper said, almost pleadingly.

"And Jay?" I need to see him!" Lucy chimed in.

Prue smiled. "Of course." She put a reassuring hand on Lucy's trembling arm. "Don't worry," she said, looking the young woman straight in the eye. "We'll save your sisters." Lucy nodded slowly, swallowing hard. An arm around her charge, Prue lead Lucy up he stairs, heading for the attic, where she would collect some of Lucy's blood to scry with.

Phoebe turned to Piper. Seeing her sister's apprehensive face, Phoebe walked forward and gripped her hand. "Piper," she began, but her older sister interrupted, shaking her head.

"I know what we have to do, Pheebs. It's just-" She looked deeply into her sister's liquid brown eyes and lowered her voice to a whisper. "How do we know we can save Lucy's sisters? How do we know that we will all live to see another day? To save another innocent? How do we know what we're up against?"

Phoebe took both of Piper's warm, callused hands in her own smooth ones and squeezed them. "How do we know we could be doing something that could benefit the entire magical community?" Still seeing Piper struggling to accept their responsibility, she added, "We could be ridding Good of an evil threat even bigger than the Source. If we die, we die for the rest of the universe's safety and peace. If we live, we might be able to live normal lives with no demonic threats."

Piper sighed, knowing that she couldn't avoid her destiny. She nodded silently, wrestling with the ominous feeling that something was going to go wrong. She knew that she couldn't over-ride her sister's decision. This was something they had to do. If they lived or died, they had to do it. "Stupid sibling democracy," She muttered, though purposefully loud enough for her sister to hear.

Phoebe grinned and lightly pushed Piper away from her. "You'd better believe it, sis!" She teased. "Come on. Let's go see if Prue found anything. Maybe Lucy's sisters are on this plane and not in the Underworld."

Together, the two Halliwell's climbed the staircase to the upstairs floor, which lead to the attic, pondering ways to rescue the three captured and hurt Magicked Ones without getting themselves killed by this power.


	6. Blood Eyes

Patricia L. Bryans: I won't tell you if Paige is in it or not. I'll give you a hint (a BIG hint): Look at the title of the story...But because I won't tell you...well, that means that you'll have to keep reading! I appreciate all your reviews! It really makes a writer feel good!

Onii-Gil: I also value your imput. It feels warm and fuzzy to know that your sister likes what you're writing! Keep up your stories, Pheebs!

-6-

A pair of evil, blood-red eyes glared out of the shadows at the still forms of three young women slumped in a corner orf a dark and damp cavern. Water dripped from it's ceiling as the eyes waited until they awakened. _If_ they awakened. Waiting for the chanse to rid the world of Good at last. A harsh sound reverberated around the cave, like a nail being scraped across a blackboard, the gleeful anticipation of future events. These eyes had seen futre events, future triumphs, future glory. The laughter echoed through the endless passagways as the cruel eyes watched. And waited...


	7. To Call a Ghost

-7-

The attic of the Halliwell Mansion was spacious but almost all of that space was crowded. Boxes of old, ancestorial items lined the walls, each labeled neatly. A crimson, antique love seat rested in front of an old oak trunk that was etched with carvings and symbols and covered in a thick layer of dust. Everything about the room showed age from the sporatic cobwebs Piper had missed while cleaning, to the yellowed pages of books lining the shelves of a huge bookcase. A few small nooks in the wall suggested mice, but to counter the age and dust, a huge, stained-glass window reflected shapes of every color over Prue and Lucy, who were bent over an enormous map of the country. As Phoebe and Piper picked their way towards the center of the room, stepping around stray boxes and an old rocking-horse, Prue looked up and shook her head.

"There's nothing. Nothing is coming up. I've checked three times." She set down the scrying crystal that dangled off a thread and massaged her neck, which was strained from being bent. "Are you sure this works without the sister's actual blood?"

Phoebe sat in a vacant chair in front of the round table and replied, "It should. I mean, she is their sister. Wouldn't that make sense?" She picked up the small knife Prue had used to prick Lucy's finger to get the blood.

Piper leaned forward to pick up the crystal as Phoebe received the knife from Prue at the same time. Piper's palm brushed against the knife, its keen edge opening a small cut which nevertheless bled.

"Ouch!" As Piper jerked her hand back impulsively, a drop of her blood fell onto the crystal. Without warning, it sprang up from the table and flew to the Book of Shadows, which opened magically to a blank page. The girls all stared.

"Ok, what was that?" Prue asked to no one in particular. Puzzled and shocked, Piper clutched at her stinging hand and crossed over to the Book with the other three right behind her. What met their eyes caused them to start with shock.

As if an invisible hand were holding a pen and writing, an entry was being scrawled on the yellowed page, written in a fancy, but clearly legible hand.

The Power of Four will not protect

The Power of Three will not set free

A power has blossomed from darkness

But a stronger power emerges from light

Long lost shall return

Unknown will become known

But present and future can only combine

To vanquish this evil from time and space.

Below this message were six words:

To find a lost witch

Teleportation

There was a silence after Piper read the message aloud.

"Wow," Lucy breathed, summing up the feelings of the other women. "That was odd." She looked at Piper quizzically. "Why didn't that work with my blood?"

Piper shook her head, still staring at the page. "I have no idea."

"Well, obviously it was written to help us find the Millers, so we should probably try to figure this stuff out, since it's going to be important." Prue said, turning to Phoebe. "Well, I'm completely lost already. Have any ideas? Or, heck, do you understand it at all?"

Phoebe placed her hands on the podium, thinking intently. "Well, look at this," she said, pointing to the last words. "_To find a lost witch...teleportation_. I think those are the spells we have to use to get to the Millers. If we just combine them together and write a whole new spell..." she trailed off, taking a pad of paper off the table and starting to write before even sitting down on the sofa.

After a few seconds while waiting for her sister to finish her sentence, Prue gave up and said, "Um, ok. So," She turned to Piper. "Should we figure out what all this means?"

Lucy had already figured out the first two lines. "The Power of Four: that's us. It didn't defeat the demon, so we can't protect ourselves from her. Not the four of us alone anyway. The Power of Three: that's you. And," she looked slightly frightened as she explained her concern. "Obviously, the Power of Three won't keep you safe, either."

"'A power has blossomed from darkness'. Well, that has to be this person." Phoebe piped up from the couch, pointing at Lucy's shoulder before returning to her notebook.

"That makes sense. Thanks, Pheebs," Prue said, then continued to think. "I don't know what else. 'Unknown will become known'. Well, like most of the writing, I have no idea what that means."

"I guess we'll find out soon," Piper said. "That and how the Book wrote itself."

Prue smiled as her sister said this. "I think I know who did that." When Piper looked at her, Prue glanced upward. Lucy was puzzled. Seeing this, Prue explained. "We found out last year that the Book of Shadows, or at least some of it, was written by our grandmother, Penelope."

"Penelope Halliwell? Wow, legend has it that she was really powerful," Lucy breathed.

Piper laughed slightly. "She still is!"

"But," Prue said, turning back to Piper. "That looks more like Mom's handwriting. What do you think?"

Piper looked down at the yellowed parchment and nodded. "You're right, it does look more like hers."

"'Long lost shall return, unknown will become known'." Prue's eyebrows knitted together. "Could that mean..._does_ that mean...?" She stared wide-eyed at Piper.

"I don't know...woah!" But Piper's voice trailed away as the Book of Shadows flipped its own pages again. "Again with the Book flippy thing!" She said to the ceiling. When the Book ceased moving, Piper leaned forward and read the inscription. "'To call a ghost' She looked up again. "Ghost, as in, dead?" She asked Prue. "Must be." Prue agreed, crossing to Piper and studying the Book in turn and starting to read the spell that was scrawled on the page.

"___'Hear these words, _

___Hear my cry, _

**_Spirit from the other side, _**

**_Come to me, _**

___I summon thee, _

**_Cross now the Gr-'_**_"_

Before Prue finished reading the spell, Piper had clapped a hand over her mouth roughly. "I don't think you want to do that just yet," she warned her sister.

"Why not?" Lucy inquired.

Piper looked at her quizzically, her hand still stifling her sister's words. "Haven't you ever read a spell without really knowing what you were saying?"

Lucy shrugged. "Well, no, but that was because Kate would never let us. But why wouldn't we? What happens?"

"Bad things. If you read a spell or summon before you need it, either the spell will go badly, or they'll happen, but incompletely or wrongly. You have to actually know what you're saying. Otherwise, it could be very bad."

Prue twisted out of Piper's grasp and said, "Piper, why not do the spell now? We need to start right away if we want to-" She glanced sideways at Lucy, and lowered her voice slightly, "Save the Millers."

"Phoebe has to figure out that spell first and what it means," Piper replied, logically.

"We can get help from Grams and Mom," Prue countered, explaining herself. "Six heads are better than one."

"Maybe we should say the first spell, the one to summon a lost witch. Look. It's on here twice. Once with teleportation, which is the spell to find the Millers."

"We think. No," Prue said, walking to the Book. "We should call the past first. Trust me." Without waiting for a response, Prue read the summoning spell.

"_Hear these words,_

_Hear my cry._

_Spirit from the other side._

_Come to me,_

_I summon thee._

_Cross now the Great Divide."_

Orbs of light circled around the space in front of the podium as Prue read the spell, shimmering and lighting up the room. Phoebe looked up as the lights grew brighter and a light, magical wind kicked up. What Lucy saw next made her sink to the ancient love seat in shock, for despite being a seasoned and renowned witch, she had never seen this spell performed, and the results were extraordinary, for standing side by side in the center of the rug stood two women, both incredibly famous, and both unbelievably powerful. Penelope and Patricia Halliwell had been brought over the Great Divide. Lucy couldn't believe it. The most powerful witches in the universe before the Charmed Ones were standing in front of her, as easily as if they had been listening to the entire episode.

"Mom! Grams!" Prue exclaimed with joy, and hurried forward to hug her kin. Piper and Phoebe also made their way forward smiling, happily wrapping themselves in their mother's hold, but Lucy stayed where she was, unsure of how to greet the legendary pair. Patty welcomed her daughters with open arms and joy in her face, but Penny, or Grams as the girls called her, was more subdued. A smile creased her lined face, but none of her usual twinkle sparkled in her eyes now.

"My dears!" Patty folded her arms around her three daughters, closing her eyes and burying her nose in Phoebe's hair. "I've missed you so!"

"And I haven't?" Chimed in the older woman. She smiled and hugged Prue, saying, "My, my. You've grown more and more beautiful, Prudence." Prue blushed as Grams looked over her granddaughter's head at Lucy and asked, "Girls, aren't you going to introduce us to your friend?" She, of course, knew who Lucy was. She knew her parents when she was alive, but she didn't say anything.

Piper untangled herself gently from her mother's arms and beckoned to Lucy to join them. "Mom, Grams, this is Lucy Miller, the youngest of the Magicked Ones. Lucy, may I introduce Patricia and Penelope Halliwell, our mother and grandmother?"

Lucy couldn't feel her legs again. She remained on the couch, unable to move, and stared, open-mouthed, awestruck, and pale. "How...what...are...are you...alive? I mean..." She stammered out the words, disbelieving her own eyes.

"Oh, we're not alive. We're ghosts. But we're able to be solid until our duty, and yours, is complete. We're here to help, and I must say, we have much to help with," Grams said, kindly, moving over to the couch to sit next to Lucy. The girl drew away from her at first, hesitant about the ghost of the legendary witch touching her, but she soon relaxed as she realized that Grams was indeed, solid.

"I'm honored to meet you, Penelope."

Grams waved off the formalities with a worn, wrinkled hand. "Please, call me Penny. Everyone does."

"And call me Patty," said Patricia, grimacing slightly. "I can't stand to hear my full name being used. Too long and fancy." She smiled kindly at the young witch.

Prue also grinned at her, a new twinkle in her eyes since the arrival of her loved ones, and at the sight of Lucy's still-shocked face. "What should we start with?" She asked her mother. "We don't have too many leads and we don't have too much time."

"But you do have leads," Patty answered, growing solemn at the mention of their duty. "You have the spells you need to get all the help you need. Except for one. All you need is the means to destroy Zoltof."

"So, that's who's behind all this?" Piper questioned, gesturing at Lucy. She had heard of the demon Zoltof and it surprised her that he was powerful.

Grams nodded. "Yes. Zoltof, as you know, started as a lower-level demon, but over the years, through treason and murder, he has become more powerful than any other demon in history. More powerful than the greatest Source. Zoltof now has countless followers, each of them almost as powerful as the Source himself."

"Kate vanquished one, though!" Lucy said, but Gram's shook her head.

"No, she didn't. Your whitelighter orbed Kate and Samantha out of the glade immediately after they were threatened again. All she could do was hold him off. Besides, neither Kate nor Samantha have the powers to destroy."

Lucy was shocked. "How do you know what happened?"

Patty answered. "We can watch what happens, we just can't help unless we're summoned. We can't change the events of the living, or this never would have happened."

"Well, Heather blew one up," Lucy brought up, desperate to find an answer, but Grams shook her head again.

"She barely wounded him, actually. I told you, they have more power than other demons."

Pure crossed over to the Book of Shadows as she exclaimed, "That means we're going to need more power. A lot more power."

The four live women missed the pointed glance exchanged between Penny and Patty. "That's why we're here. And that's why we need someone else," Grams said, and without prior announcements, she drew a handful of glittering dust from a pouch at her side and blew it lightly into Lucy's face. The girl sighed, her eyelashes fluttered as her body went limp, and she slipped down on the couch as her eyes closed.

"Grams!" Prue exclaimed, starting to cross to Lucy, but Patty held her back.

"Steady on, Prue, honey. All she did was put her to sleep."

Prue stared incredulously at her mother. "What the heck was that? Why? I don't understand."

Grams got up from the couch and gently lay Lucy down and covered her with a light blanket. After making sure Lucy looked comfortable, Grams made her way over to the Book and turned to a page near the back. "Your mother and I have something to show you. I need you, Phoebe, to make this potion," she indicated it with a wave of her hand. Phoebe crossed to her and looked over her shoulder at the ingredients, but the name of the spell was covered, purposefully, by her grandmother. Grams then turned to her eldest granddaughters. "You two, set up eight candles in a circle around the table. And, we'll need the knife." She flicked her finders and the knife used by Prue shot through the air and landed, handle first, in Grams' outstretched palm.

As she moved to get the candles, Piper suddenly realized what Grams wanted, having seen the spell once while she was searching through the Book. "Grams," She said, slowly, stopping. "Who are we summoning?" At this, Prue and Phoebe also stopped what they were doing and looked up, eyebrows furrowing.

"No questions, Piper. We weren't expecting for you to meet yet, but desperate times call for this. Just do what I ask."

Piper was still confused. "Why did you put Lucy to sleep? She's a fellow witch. She has the right to-"

Patty interrupted, trying to speak reason to calm her daughter down. "Because this is important only to you three. This will change your lives and your destinies greatly. I'm not saying any more until after the potion is made and the spell is spoken. Now, come on, get a move on. We don't have much time."


	8. The Demonic Deal

-8-

The demon Justain, who Sam had almost met her death to, cowered in the attic of the Miller Mansion, shivering uncontrollably as the demonic female who had attacked the Magicked Ones stared haughtily at him from across the room. Her yellowed pupils radiated power and strength into his watery, black eyes. Unable to not look to the door of the attic, Justain tried to gather his failing demeanor and straighten his shoulders in front of his superior. Shakily, nervously, he knelt and spoke, relaying his message from the Source while maintaining cordial respect for this power.

"Milady, Lynxe. I bring thee a message from my master, the Source of All Evil. Thy permission to speak further?" He kept his head low and his eyes down, holding his breath. Oh, why had the Source sent him to do this? Even Justain knew that he was a low-level demon and that his master had many other more powerful and impressive demons waiting to obey him.

After a few seconds, a cold voice slid around the room, answering respectfully, as was the tradition between negotiating demons. "Pray thee, speak."

Justain contained a sigh of relief, but did not look up. "My thanks to thee, lady. My master understands thou hast defeated the Magicked Ones and now hast them in thy possession. He congratulates thee for thy triumph. He sends thee a proposal: a council with thee and thy master to discuss the witches' fate and thou master's plan to defeat the Charmed Ones. Please, forgive this unworthy creature and pray answer, so I might return to my master."

Silence enveloped the room as Justain waited again. The demon Lynxe pondered the offer carefully but quickly. She suspected the the Source would want to join the war to finish Good and gain profit from it. Scum! Her master would see right through him. He had more power than the Source would ever have. What was the harm in amusing this demon with a council?

Justain jumped as the smooth, poisonous voice slipped around him like a noose. "Inform thy master that we will hold council with him. Though my master will not show himself, he will be present. Tell the Source to come with a second-in-command in two moons down in the meeting cave. The third hour past sundown. Pray, thank thy master on our behalf. Rise and leave now." Justain obeyed, knowing that his time with Lynxe was over. He rose, bowed low, and shimmered out.

Lynxe immediately dropped the traditional air and turned to face a podium that held an old, leather-bound book; the Miller's Book of Shadows. Squinting her eyes slightly in concentration, Lynxe slowly reached out a hand towards the Book, intending to open it, but as soon as her hand was three inches away, the Book suddenly glowed and magically flew off the podium to land with a dull _thunk_ on the floor. The power of the witches that surrounded the manor was strong, or Lynxe would have been able to touch the Book. Curses. Well, not to worry. They would weaken, but not until Lynxe had all four. A smile playing across her lips, Lynxe shouted into the quiet air: "Xeda! Show yourself!" The words lashed out of her mouth and quickly brought around the shimmer of a huge, murderous-looking demon with sickly green hands and a face of what looked like folded-up skin. The demon knelt and touched his forehead to Lynxe's foot respectfully, but did not speak.

"Rise, Xeda." Lynxe cooed, almost lovingly. The demon obeyed before Lynxe began her interrogation. "Were you, or were you not part of the seizing and capturing of the Magicked Ones?"

The demon bowed clumsily while replying in a hoarse voice. "Yes, lady."

"And did you or did you not realize that one of the Magicked Ones escaped?"

"Lady, I had already shimmered to the Underworld with the one they call the Quiet One and I did not see what became of the other three. With all due respect, my orders were to capture a Magicked One and take her to the lair. I did my job." He replied, bowing again.

Lynxe nodded, understanding. "Yes, you did well. I have one more question before you return to the three witches."

"Anything, lady." Xeda mumbled.

Lynxe turned away from her servant. "Have you any idea of the other three demons in charge of the witches' capture?"

Again, the demon bowed. "I do, lady."

"Pray, tell me."

"My brother, Xantu, and the demons Marksas and Baz."

A harsh chuckle escaped from Lynxe's throat. "Never in a rush to defend kin are we, Xeda?" The demon made no reply. Lynxe dismissed him with a careless wave of her hand. "You are free to go. Remember, keep the prisoners alive. I need them to tell me where their sister is. They will be dead once I find her, you can be assured. Go."

Xeda bowed and shimmered away.

Lynxe stood alone in the Miller's attic, contemplating her next move carefully. Planning. Ever planning...


	9. An Interrogation of Silent Proportions

Patricia L. Bryans: Once again, thank you for reviewing my story. I'm glad you are reading it. You're one of the few who are, and I appreciate it. I'll keep it going for you.

Onii-Gil: No worries. Your evil villan thing is kinda like my violence towards the heroine thing...

-9-

The first thing Kate was aware of was a dull pounding, deep in the regions of her mind, quiet and soft at first, but growing with intensity as she swam slowly back through the depths consciousness. She was in so much pain; her skull and back throbbed horribly, and she could feel the bruises that had risen on her arms and torso. Her entire body felt like it was engulfed in fire, burning into each area. Ever so slowly, she became aware of more pain and aches as her mind focused. _Good. I'm not dead._ At least, she hoped not. Why else would she be hurting? You can't feel anything when you're a ghost. Carefully, she tried to move her legs. Nothing happened, nothing moved. Feeling a jolt of panic, she tried again, focusing her entire mind, willing her muscles to flex. Still, nothing. Why couldn't she move? What had happened to her? Little by little, wincing as her muscles protested, Kate tried to open her eyes. The next sign of a bigger problem was that she couldn't see. Her eyes were open, but all she could see was black. Paralyzed and blind? Moaning softly in pain and fear, Kate tried to sit up, but her hands were bound tightly behind her. What was wrong? Where was she? Where were her sisters? Suddenly, Kate started as a voice spoke into the silence. "One has awakened. Quickly, go inform Lynxe. I shall bring her."

Kate heard heavy footsteps echo off what sounded like stone walls, getting louder as they approached her. She could do nothing to move away from the creature, but she struggled weakly as she was yanked upright. Still, Kate could not feel her legs and could not support her own body. Her eyes shut again in pain as she was roughly dragged by the arm away from where she was, her feet scraping the dusty floor. She groaned as her knee hit a boulder, but the creature holding her shook her, hissing, "Silence, witch, or you will feel more pain than that."

After a few minutes, she sensed that she was in another room, or cave, and that another presence was with them, an evil presence. Her captor dragged her a few feet further, then he halted, still holding her up. "I have the prisoner, milday."

A deep chuckle of laughter echoed in Kate's alert ears. "So, witch," A voice near her head snapped sharply. She felt something pass by her face and suddenly, she could see again. Wincing at the sudden onset of light, despite its dimness, she blinked and opened her eyes to an evil sight.

The speaker was the same woman who had attacked her sisters back at the manor. Kate assumed this was Lynxe, the creature the guards had referred to. Her back was facing Kate and she was stripping something off of an unrecognisable figure that was bound to a pole, its arms outstretched. A sickening feeling washed over Kate as she realized that the woman was slicing off the flesh of another live demon with a knife, completely ignoring its final whimpers, and smiling the entire time. The female demon spoke sourly to her dying enemy before turning to face Kate. "This is your punishment for being too slow to catch a witch!" Still baring her teeth in a grin, she spun around. Kate's heart raced as she looked upon the demon who had kidnapped her. She was clothed in magnificent robes of deep maroon and cloaked in dark blue. The brooch at her throat resembled the head of a wildcat with sharp, gray-tipped ears. Its jaws were open ferociously, exposing gleaming white fangs. Flanking the woman were two burly demons, both robed in the same maroon, but with black cloaks that blended deftly into their surroundings. Their faces were hooded, shadowed with putrid evil.

Lynxe swaggered forward and gripped Kate's chin in her hand, forcing the girl's head back until wide, brown eyes met narrow yellow ones. Lynxe laughed, a high, cruel, mirthless laugh that bored itself into Kate's already pounding head. "So, this is the all-powerful Magicked One that every other demon is so frightened of. Ha!" She thrust Kate's chin away from her roughly, sniggering. "Not too powerful now, are you, witch? Alone, paralyzed so you can't run away, and, like your precious sisters, at the mercy of the mighty Zoltof. You have no choice but to obey me." She halted, as if waiting for Kate to retort, but the girl kept silent, though she was trembling with anger. This demon had her sisters in peril and presumably close to death. Why should she answer?

Lynxe stared at her prisoner contemptuously, chuckling inwardly. This girl was foolish. No one ignored her, least of all a powerless, weakened witch. Ah, well. She would speak soon enough, once she is tortured, and once she watches her sisters hurt in front of her eyes. Oh, she would speak soon. "Tell me, to where did your other sister orb? Who is she getting help from?"

Kate stared into the demon's eyes, maintaining a stubborn silence. How was she supposed to know where Lucy was? She didn't even know if her sister was alive, let alone where she was. She couldn't believe that the demon was asking her anyway. Apparently powerful, why didn't she just scry for Lucy? Not that Kate wanted that. She was furious. _Let that bitch touch one hair of my sister's heads and..._

The demon watched Kate's steadfast eyes. She felt a hatred towards this witch who had made her disgracefully fly through the air to crash into a table back at the witch's home when she attacked. Her dignity was lost with this girl, but not for long. She would make the witch wish for death. "Speak to me and tell me, or you shall suffer!"

Still, Kate said nothing, though she was visibly trembling with anger. Nothing was going to give this demon satisfaction. Kate would not allow it.

Lynxe watched the girl's eyes, searching for the tiniest sign of defeat. But they showed nothing but a stone-like resistance. "Foolish," the demon breathed, making as though she was going to turn around and return to the dead demon behind her. But her anger got the better of her and she swung around and slapped Kate across the face as hard as she could muster. The force of the blow swung Kate's head to the side, causing her to gasp slightly in pain. Breathing heavily and trying to ignore her stinging cheek, Kate turned her head back to face the demon, still saying nothing.

Lynxe leaned down so that her eyes were level to Kate's and their noses were inches apart. "It's no wonder they call you the Quiet One. I can see that you will not speak to me at the moment. But what if you watched your sisters suffering? Yes, you will talk eventually and tell me where your youngest sister is too. You will have no choice. The life of your sisters will depend on your cooperation. Think on that!"

"I wouldn't tell scum like you the time of day!" Spat Kate, her anger bubbling beyond control.

The female demon's eyes flicked quickly toward the demon holding onto one of Kate's arms and she nodded slightly. He swung his rod in a quick, sharp blow across the back of the girl's head. A quiet sigh escaped Kate's lips as she sunk back into unconsciousness and went limp. Motioning to the guards, Lynxe stood watching them drag the witch away. What a frustrating interrogation. Were all the witches as stubborn as this one? Or was the Quiet One just daft? Lynxe spat contemptuously on the floor where Kate had been held moments before and snapped at her prisoner's still form being pulled along the corridor, "You'll be screaming for me to kill you before I'm done with you, witch! You will watch your sisters suffer and die as I torture them for information. You will talk! You will all talk!"


	10. The Fourth Time's a Charm

-10-

The potion stood ready in the center of a round table, bubbling and rolling within a steaming, pewter cauldron and letting off a soft hissing. As Phoebe dropped in the last sprig of rosemary, and the resulting puff of steam had evaporated into the air, Prue and Piper took seats around the table, their chairs equally spaced. Before she joined her sisters, Phoebe, acting on instinct, placed a small piece of rosemary beside the sleeping Lucy's hand.

As she sat in a hard-backed, wooden chair, Phoebe took a small knife from Grams and explained the spell to her sisters. "We've done this spell before to summon Melinda, remember? Soon after we learned we had powers, we needed her to vanquish a demon and protect our family line. Well, this is the same thing. All the potion needs now is a drop of our blood...each of our blood." Phoebe looked sideways at Piper when her sister figited slightly, and said, "Piper, I know you hate doing this, but its for a far bigger reason than a slightly painful-"

"I know, I know!" Piper said, face reddening with embarrassment. "Just, poke me quickly, ok?" Phoebe obeyed and jabbed Piper's finger slightly, allowing a drop of blood to appear on her skin. Piper made a small noise of pain, which drew rolled eyes from her sisters, then after Prue had drawn blood, Phoebe followed suit. Before combining her blood in the cauldron, she looked into the eyes staring back at her, then glanced over at Lucy, who lay asleep on the couch, hands resting lightly on her stomach, and briefly remonised about her own past. How would she, Phoebe, feel if her sisters were kidnapped by demons; demons more powerful than she could imagine? Would anyone help them if they had? The lives of the Millers rested in the hands of the Halliwells now. The burden was great, but then Phoebe realized that her sisters would die to save an innocent. It was up to them.

"Powers of the witches rise

Course unseen across the skies

Come to us, who call you near

Come to us, and settle here

Blood to blood,

I summon thee

Blood to blood,

**Return to me."**

A gust of magical wind whipped across the attic as the words died from the sisters' lips, but the candles surrounding the table did not flicker. The girls' hair lifted as magic bobs of light swirled around in front of them. Patty reached to her side and took her mother's hand in anticipated nervousness. Grams looked sideways at Patty, who's face was white and dotted with sweat and nodded reassuringly, giving her daughter's hand a squeeze. "Everything will be fine. They will accept her," she whispered, too soft for her granddaughters to hear.

The lights were the same that brought about Patricia and Penelope, but this time, when they faded away, a young woman stood in the center of the room, her small, thin hands held loosely at her sides. She was about 5 feet 6 inches tall, within the same age of the Halliwells, but a few years younger then Phoebe. She was slim with a round, childish face. Her dark brown hair, which settled about her shoulders loosely, clashed greatly with her smooth, though slightly freckled skin, which was quite pale. Her eyes, chocolate brown, were exactly like those of the three sisters sitting around the table, though at the moment they were darting around the room, resting on Patty and Grams.

"What...where am I? What am I doing here?" The woman asked, sounding almost dumbfounded with shock. She looked closer at Patty, then recognised her. "Patty? What...what is going on?"

Prue stared, first at the newcomer, then at her mother. "Patty? What? Wait, you two know each other? Mom, what's-"

"Prue, Piper, Phoebe," said Patty formally, crossing over to the new woman, placing a hand on her shoulder and looking upon her three daughters. "May I introduce your sister, Paige?"

Not a sound could be heard in the room for several long seconds as these words were processed in the minds of all four young women.

"Sister?" Phoebe and Paige said at the same time, both as astonished as the other.

"We don't have another sister," Prue said quickly and quietly, but her eyes searched Paige's face, looking for any detail that would betray a likeliness between them.

"Yes, you do," Patty replied, smiling. "She is your baby sister. Please, sit and let me explain." Paige looked at her now, extremely confused. Patty lead her to another chair near to the other three and sat her down.

"Mom, I don't-" Prue began, but Penny cut her off with a repremending whisper.

"Prue, not now. Listen."

Prue gave her grandmother a scathing look, but obeyed, shutting her mouth and turning to stare at her mother, who took a deep, steadying breath, then told her story.

"After you were all born, and Phoebe was about a year old, Victor and I had already divorced. Back then, it had been absolutely forbidden for a witch and a whitelighter to be together. It was unthinkable. But my whitelighter, Sam, and I cared for each other greatly. He was my greatest friend, my closest mentor. After a few months, we began to notice the connection between us, like a spark of emotion. Our emotions were all mixed up, confused, middled. Then, one day, it just got too big and I told him that I loved him. I realised it, and he too knew that he loved me and told me as much. It might have been a brief fling. Besides, I...well...died shortly after that, so we never got to carry our love out. But that's when I became pregnant with you, Paige. You three were all toddlers. You just thought Mommy had got a little fat. You never knew I was pregnant. No one did. The trouble was, being having children with a whitelighter was unthinkable. So, that's why we decided to give the baby up. Sam and I took her to a local church as soon as she was born, and gave the nun there the baby, along with a blanket. We hadn't named her yet, but I told Sister Agnes, the nun that took her, that I wanted her name to start with a P. We asked her to find a home for her, and she found one. A very good home with the Matthews.

"You four were not meant to meet for another year. There were things in your future that I cannot talk about with you, and never can. But I can tell you, Prue, that you were never meant to meet Paige Matthews."

Prue sat straighter at this, closing her mouth. It had been open for some time. "Why? What was supposed to happen? Why can't you tell us?"

Patty shook her head. "No. I've already said, I can't reveal what your future was. I'm sorry. Besides, I don't think it will be the same anymore. You can't know too much about your future, anyway. It's too dangerous" She finished speaking and looked around at her four daughters with love-filled eyes. "So now you know my story about Sam, and now I hope that you understand that Paige is your baby half sister: half witch, half whitelighter, a rare and extreamly powerful combination." She softly rested work-worn hands on Paige's shoulders and looked at the three oldest girls. "I hope you girls can accept Paige as your sister. And I hope you, Paige, can accept them as family."

Silence was the only thing active in the entire room, wafting into each corner, floating into each ear until Prue rose softly, and moved over to Paige, the amasssedor of her sisters, smiling graciously. She extended her hand and spoke: "Welcome to the Halliwell family, Paige."

In turn, Paige stood and gently grasped the extended hand and spoke for the first time since she had seen Patty. "Thank you." She suddenly smiled. "I've always wanted sisters., though this is definatly not the way I expected to get them." Piper and Phoebe stood to stand with Prue, and as they reached her, the lights suddenly darkened and a bright tinkling of bells sounded, as if a chorus of fairies were singing all around them. A beam of blue, angelic light broke through the roof of the attic and bathed the girls in its magical color as supernatural lights swirled around them in beautiful patterns. "Woah," Paige whispered.

"What's happening?" Piper inquired, just as softly. The four stared up at the lights, watching them spin around their heads.

"It means you're supposed to be together. You've just been blessed by the Elders." Grams said, stepping into the picture at last.

"Wait a second," Paige said, releasing Prue's hand and asking the question that had been bothering her for a while, as if Gram's explanation of the lights and the mention of the word "Elder" had sparked it. "Patty...er...Mom...what do you mean by 'witch'? What's a whitelighter? And an Elder?"

A brief glance between Patty and Grams was missed by the girls before Patty explained the best she could. "Whitelighters are guardian angels of witches. Well, they're not really angels. I mean, they're immortal and can only die from a darklighter arrow, but they protect witches and help future whitelighters. Elders are the guys up there," She pointed to the ceiling. "Who are basically the manager of Good."

"Now, this is going to sound ludacris to you, Paige, but I hope you will believe every work I say, because it is you. It is your destiny. You are a witch." Noting Paige's wide-eyed stare, Grams continued, hurriedly. "Yes, Paige. But a good witch. You can do spells, brew potions and all that stereotypical stuff, even if you have to learn it. But that's not all you are able to do. Anyone can make a potion. All you do is add ingredients. But you, my dear, have powers." Paige spluttered slightly, disbelieving, but Patty reprehended her.

"Do not doubt what she says, Paige. You have powers. Prue, Piper, and Phoebe all have powers. Your Grams and I have powers. And Lucy has powers," she said, pointing to the couch and drawing the attention of Paige, who had not noticed the sleeping witch before then and started slightly.

Paige cast Lucy a curious glance before speaking again. "How can I have powers?" She blurted, shaking her head and looking at her mother, spreading her arms wide. "Look at me! I'm skinny, pale, ugly, have an average job. I'm just Paige Matthews! Not some super witch who casts spells."

At this, Piper said, "Phoebe, toss that candle into the air and stay out of the way." Understanding what her sister had in mind, Phoebe picked up a large white candle from the floor and blew out the flame before, after a nod from her sister, threw it into the air. Piper calmly raised her hands, palms facing each other, and froze the candle in midair, leaving it completely stationary between ceiling and floor. Paige gasped. She couldn't believe what she saw. Piper looked over at her new sister, smiling. "Not seen enough?" With barely any effort, she flicked her wrists towards the candle. It exploded in front of their eyes, showering them all with bits of wax. Piper put her hands back down and turned to Paige, acting as though nothing had happened. "We have powers, alright!" she said, smiling and gesturing towards her sisters. "We all do. There is no way you can't. It's in your blood."

Feeling curiosity get the better of her, Phoebe asked, while picking wax from her hair, "What kind of powers does Paige have, Grams? I don't think it's quite fair to let her discover them on her own like we did, especially since we need her to get control over them quickly if we are to save the Magicked Ones."

"Speaking of which," Grams interrupted, ignoring Phoebe's question and crossing to the couch. "I think it's time that Lucy woke up. She needs to be alert now that you four have met each other." She gathered a handful of golden dust from a small pouch at her side and blew it into Lucy's face. Gently, Grams stroked Lucy's cheek, speaking softly, so as not to frighten the girl. "Lucy, dear. Wake up."

Lucy's eyelids twitched, then slowly opened. She stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, then her eyes roved the room, landing slowly on Grams. Slowly, she pushed herself upright, leaning against the couch arm for support. "Woah. What happened? Who-?" She stared hard at Page, her muddled mind scanning her intellectual files for a recognisable name, but it wouldn't click. "Who are you?"

"Lucy, this is Paige," Phoebe replied, introducing the two, her eyes never leaving Paige's face. "Our youngest sister. Paige, Lucy Miller, also a witch, one of the powerful Magicked Ones."

"It's nice to meet you," Paige said politely, still trying to resister all of what her mother had told her minutes before.

"Pleasure," Lucy replied, nodding cordially, but her eyebrows raising, before pressing the question that had arisen in her mind. "I didn't know you had another sister," She told the Halliwell sisters, looking sideways at Paige. "No offense, Paige," she continued on. "But I've never heard of you before."

"That's because we only just met her ourselves," Prue said.

"It's a long story," Paige assured Lucy with a slight smile.

A quizzicle look passed over Lucy's face. "Wait, then how did you get in here? I can understand everything if you tell me. I can usually comprehend what people tell me. What happened?"

Patty crossed the room. "Lucy, calm down. All will be explained in due time."

"If all will be explained in due time, then why not just tell me now and get it over with? I'll be better prepared for the future if you tell me sooner rather than later. What's the difference?" Lucy retorted, her chin raising defiantly.

"Boy, she's stubborn," Prue whispered to Piper, but too quietly for the younger woman to hear. Piper nodded back vigourilsy, a smile playing about her lips.

"Very well," Grams proclaimed. "I put you to sleep, Lucy, because I needed to introduce Paige to Prue, Piper, and Phoebe. Up until fifteen minutes ago, they did not know that the other existed. They only found out that they had a sister slightly before you did. She's a witch," Grams looked at her youngest granddaughter with pride. "A witch with a unique means of telekinesis. Call that book to you, Paige."

The girl did as she was told, and concentrated on the book that Grams had indicated. "Book," She demanded. In a flurry of white lights, the book vanished, only to return a split second later in Paige's outstretched hands, making her jump so violently that she dropped it with a snap. "Wow," she breathed, impressed. "_I _did that?" She looked at Prue in astonishment, as if waiting for an answer.

Smiling, Prue responded, "Yes, you did."

"So, apparently, Paige can move things with her mind, like Prue," Piper said, drawing another exchange of glances between Grams and Patty, which no one noticed.

"That's right," Patty said. "But centered with whitelighter powers, thanks to her being half-angel. She can also orb."

"Orb? What is that?" Paige questioned, looking throughly flustered.

"Your whitelighter half enables you to transport yourself somewhere. Anywhere. You focus your mind on a place, or even a person, and your body will take you there through your powers. Try orbing to the Book of Shadows." Eyes shut with concentration, Pagie again focused her mind on the area behind the couch. Then, her body tickled and felt as if she was begin rubbed all over with a soft towel. She had the funniest sensation of her feet lifting off the ground, and quite suddenly she was standing next to the podium where the Book lay open. She probed herself with long fingers, making sure that nothing had been altered on her thin frame, touched the podium, then looked up. "Wow," she whispered again, then her knees buckled, and she passed out on the floor.


	11. The Shock of a Compassionate One

Chuckles1414: Thank you so much for reviewing! I love your story!

Kings Lioness: Thanks for reading it, Laur! I can't wait to read one of your fan fics! Speaking of the Lioness...I'm getting an idea in my head for a Tamora Pierce fan fic!

Patricia L. Bryans: Thanks for reading and reviewing again. I thought I'd add that bit about Paige passing out as a bit of comedic relief. Glad you liked that bit. I guess I didn't make the Patty/Paige meeting clear. I'm going to edit my story when I post it all, so it will be a complete version, but Patty had been seeing Paige at the social work place for a few years before...as a human, which the Elders didn't like, of course, but only sporratically. That was my original idea, anyway. I have yet to put it into my story...but that's basically how Paige knew. Sorry I didn't clarify it!

Phoebe Turner Halliwell: Thank you for taking your time to read my story! It means a lot to me!

-11-

A fireball crackled through the cool, damp air, lighting up a green, shady glen with its evil power, siziling through the atmosphere towards a figure who was rooted to the spot with fear; Kate. Without knowing what she was doing, Samantha hurled herself from her hiding spot, sprinted to her sister, and pushed Kate aside, screaming her name. "Kate!" The fireball took Samantha hard in the stomach, causing her to grunt in pain.

Sam became fully awake and alert as a heavy boot kicked her again, driving the wind out of her lungs in an attempt to bring her around. Instinctively, Sam tried to curl up into a ball to protect herself, but she couldn't; her hands were tied above her head and it was then that she realized she was kneeling. Before she could even shift slightly to get a more comfortable position, a cruel, clawed hand grabbed her hair and forced her head back painfully, exposing her heaving chest. Sam tried to cry out, but she had not yet regained her full breath and could only manage a tiny whimper.

"So, the next witch graces my presence. Maybe you will tell me what your sister didn't."

At the mention of her sister, Sam looked up, hate seething in her eyes. "What have you done to my sister?"

"It matters not," The high voice burned into her head, and Sam recognised it as the voice of the demon who had kidnapped her sisters. Lynxe stepped forward and knelt so she was even with the witch's eyes. Now Sam could see the disgusting creature before her with her full sight. "But I have been informed that you were the witch who was the last conscious before your sister orbed away, and I am guessing it was you who told her where to go. I'm hoping you will tell me where you sent her. I know you yelled something to her. I heard you. Perhaps you could fill me in?" The demon said, almost lovingly.

Anger built inside Sam. Mustering up her strength, she spat into the demon's face. With a shriek of pain and rage, Lynxe stumbled backward, rubbing at her eyes furiously. A large, male demon stepped forward to help his mistress, and all the sudden, Sam felt one of her arms set free, as if the demon had been holding it there.

"Milady, are you-" But the demon's question was quickly cut off as Lynxe shot flame from her palm towards him. The demon looked stupidly at himself as the flames licked his form, let out a single cry of agony that tore through Sam's head, then was reduced to ash on the stone floor.

Sam, momentarily astounded by the cruel and heartless murder, suddenly remembered that her arm had been loosened from its bonds, but before she could make a move, almost as if he had been reading her mind, another demon sprang forward and swung his rod into her stomach, again winding her, knocking the fight from her body. As Sam gasped for air, one arm fastened to the wall, the other clutching her stomach, a third demon stepped up and motioned with his hand. Sam's free hand was swept up by magic and slammed into the pole and held there. Fighting for breath, Sam forced her mind on controlling her labored breathing, wincing as her bruised ribs protested fiercely. It was painful to draw even a single breath.

"Impudent wretch!" Lynxe hissed, swiping a hand across her eyes again, still trying to dispel Sam's saliva from her eyes, while at the same time, drawing a short, stubby object from her cloak. It resembled the hilt of a knife, but on the end that should have held a blade was a short, dull, forked piece of metal. "Your torture will be much more painful now, witch. Unless you tell me where your sister is," Lynxe snapped at Sam, seizing her hair again.

Sam had regained most of her breath and was ready with a retort, trying to stop herself from visibly wincing as her hair was tugged hard. "Then kill me now, bitch! I'm not breaking to you, no matter what you do to me!"

Lynxe stalked closer to her prisoner, her face working furiously to conceal her fury, but her eyes glittered maliciously. Releasing her hair and kneeling in front of her, the demon slid the handle under Sam's chin, pulling her head upward until the girl was looking into her eyes. "Oh, you'll die, my _dear,_" She whispered contemptuously. But I'm afraid you will have no say in the matter of speed. You'll die slowly, but not before you answer me. Where is the youngest Magicked One?"

Coolly, Sam blinked the demon's putrid saliva from her eyes and stared at her silently, inwardly seething, determined not to say anything that could harm Lucy.

"Suit yourself, witch," Lynxe whispered cruelly to Sam, then with a small smile that was filled with hate, touched the metal bit of the handle to Sam's chest. The girl's body convulsed suddenly as electric shocks of blue energy entered her veins, propelled by evil intentions. Lynxe watched as Sam's face twisted in pain, and eyes filled with tears, but the young woman still did not make a sound. Not satisfied, the demon prodded harder. Stronger jolts of electricity flowed into Sam, causing her heart to race beyond normal pace and her muscles to spasm uncontrollably. Her mind screamed in protest and ultimate pain and it was a few seconds before she realized that she was physically screaming as well. Then, as suddenly as the pain had started, it stopped. Sam's cry echoed off the stone walls as hung by her wrists limply, her knees weak and shaky and her entire body twitching as the thousands of electric currents died down, little by little. She was gasping for breath, her heart pounding unnaturally fast, her throat raw from screaming. She choked back sobs of pain as she struggled to remain awake, but darkness threatened her, creeping in on her vision slowly.

Lynxe looked down upon her victim, basking in her enemy's pain as if it gave her strength. "Had enough? Your body has received plenty of voltage over a very short period of time. Mark my words, the next shock will hurt even more, and I'm hoping it will not kill you. What a pity that would be, wouldn't it? I've been wanting to kill you ever since I lay eyes on your pathetic figure. However, you can end all of this immediately, as well as end the suffering of your other sisters, if you simply tell me where your sister is."

Still trembling, Sam couldn't lift her head; her neck muscles were lax and unresponsive, but her mouth still worked. "You...won't...break...me," She gritted out, harshly. "I'm...n-not telling...you...anything."

Controlling her frustration, Lynxe's mouth and eyes hardened. The Magicked One was strong, no doubt about it. Both girls she had interrogated so far were. She imagined that the eldest would be the weaker of the three, overprotective and unwilling to put her sisters in danger. However, maybe this one would speak after a little more...persuasion. Surely her eldest sister would talk if she knew how much pain this one had been in. "I only hope you speak soon, witch. It would be a pity if the electricity killed you before I had a chance!" With that, she pressed the metal rod to Sam's bare chest again, but this time nearer to her heart. She smiled as she listened to Sam's agonized screams, enjoying the spectacle of Sam's body convulsing and spasming against the wooden pole but in a disappointingly short time, Sam went limp, her last cry of pain echoing off the walls. Prodding harder, thinking she had stopped the voltage, Lynxe watched Sam's body continue to convulse, then sighing resignedly, Lynxe withdrew the rod and flung it away from her. She watched for a few moments as the witch's body twitched involuntarily the girl's smooth, tan skin smoking slightly, savoring the smell of slightly burnt flesh. Nudging the still woman with her foot, testing to see if she was really unconscious, Lynxe chuckled slightly, then turned to a demon behind her.

"Take this one back to the cavern. Keep her hands bound. She won't run away, so leave her legs untied. She will be out for a while...well, if her heart keeps beating that is. She might not even make it through the next hour with all the shock she got. When you return, bring along the eldest, as well as the Quiet One again. Make sure they are both awake and alert. I have a plan that will not fail..."


	12. Meeting an Angel

Phoebe Turner Halliwell: Thank you for reviewing and I'm glad you enjoy it!

Kings Lioness: Thanks for reviewing my story. I probably won't start a Tamora Pierce fan fiction until I get an idea for it...but I like yours a lot! Thanks for continuing to read my story!

Chuckles1414: Thanks for reviewing! I'm so glad you liked the chapter. There is more torture to come. I had to debate with myself whether all the torture I use should be included, but I don't think Lynxe could fufill her plan without it. Thank you for the honor of adding me to story alert! I appreciate it!

Oni-Gil: Thank you for reviewing! I'm still waiting for you to cough write an original fan fiction, but I like your others!

Patricia L. Bryans: Your words really mean a lot to me and make me feel so good about myself. Thank you for once again reviewing, and thanks ever so for reading my story. I continue it for you.

-12-

A soft, white blanket of fog enveloped Paige as she hovered between consciousness and unconsisousness. The subtle moisture gently caressed her mind, easing the slight pounding in her head with light, wispy touches against her temples. As she floated slowly through her own mind, a shadowy figure emerged from a cloud in front of her vision and began gliding toward her. As it drew closer, Paige could see that it was a man dressed in pure white robes lined with gold, tall and strong, and handsome with gentle but shocking blue eyes and a warm smile, but his forehead was ever-so-slightly creased with lines of anxiety. As he held out his hand to her, Paige noticed that bright white points of light shimmered around him, making him look like an allusion: the perfect vision of an angel. When he spoke, his deep, rich voice echoed slightly, ringing with authority and knowlage, but also with love and caring. Just the sound of it made the hair on the back of Paige's neck prickle.

"Do not be afraid, Paige Matthews. You are surrounded by friends and loved ones. You must believe them. You are one of them: a Charmed One. There is nothing to doubt. They will protect you. Return the protection. Keep them safe and love them. But there are four more you must save. Four who's lives will soon be drawn to an end if they are forgotten. Save my wife. Save my sisters-in-law. Save the Magicked Ones. This is your destiny, all of yours. Nothing happens by accident and everything happens for a reason. Protect your sisters. Save your sisters. Love your sisters." His soft voice trickled away slowly, threatening to fade into nothingness.

"Wait!" Paige called desperately, flinging out her hand as if to stop him from vanishing. "Who are you?" But the man was dissolving into millions bright white lights, saying her name over and over.

"Protect them, Paige. Wake up, now."

"Paige, open your eyes!"

Slowly, Paige did as she was told. As she did, she saw three familiar faces above her: her newfound sisters, Prue, Piper, and Phoebe, all looking relieved.

"Good, you're awake," Prue said, smiling as she helped Paige sit up slowly.

"How are you feeling, sis?" Phoebe asked, referring to Paige as family for the first time since meeting her.

"A little shaky, I'll admit. I guess that happens when you find out you're a witch with a dest-...destiny!" Paige suddenly sat bolt upright, jolting Phoebe off her and stared around the room. "Wait a second! Who was that man?"

Piper's eyebrows furrowed and she looked at her sisters. "Wait, what man?"

The youngest Halliwell stared at Piper uncertainly for a few seconds, as if trying to see if she was joking or not, then spoke again. "Ok, I don't know if you'll believe this, but when I was...well, you know, out of it, I dreamed a young man talked to me. He was tall with blue eyes, but there were lights around him. Almost like he was...an angel."

A wide grin crossed Phoebe's face and she laughed at her sister, believing it to be a jest. "An angelic tall man with blue eyes? Sounds cute. Well done, sis!"

"What did he tell you?"

The room went silent as everyone looked at Patty. She had sat in a chair, but her hands were clasping the arms of it, and her voice was shaking slightly, but she looked straight into her daughter's eyes as she asked.

Paige looked relieved that her mother believed her. "He told me to accept my destiny of being a witch, and to accept you as sisters," She said, looking at the Charmed Ones. "That I was surrounded by family. Then he told me to save his wife and save the Magicked Ones-"

Before Paige had gotten any further in her tale, Lucy had jumped off the couch suddenly. She almost fell beside Paige and took hold of her hands, applying pressure unconsciously as her heart beat rapidly in her breast. "What did he say? My sisters...we're the Magicked Ones! Are they alright? Are they alive? Please tell me what he said!"

Paige's face contorted in pain as Lucy's vice-like grip tightened even more. She looked into Lucy's eyes and saw the desperation of a frantic sister, the hope and love swimming in them. She knew better than not answering. After all, she would want to know everything if her new sisters were being held captive by demons. "He told me that it is our destiny to save the Magicked Ones. He said, 'Protect your sisters. Save your sisters. Love your sisters.' But all my sisters are here and safe." She looked up for an explanation, her thin eyebrows lifting slightly.

Prue straightened, thinking for a few seconds, then said softly, "Lucy, you're breaking Paige's hand." Lucy suddenly realized what she was doing and released Paige's hand, muttering apologies. Prue watched as Paige massaged her hand for a few seconds, her mouth drawn in a line of pain, before answering. "Protect your sisters...that means us," she explained, gesturing towards Piper and Phoebe. "Save your sisters," she broke off, thinking, but Phoebe answered for her.

"...That means the Magicked Ones. Witches are all sisters spiritually. The beings that Wiccans worship-we are all their children. We have a lot in common. It all fits."

Piper was watching Lucy. The Magicked One's face had become blank, her once sparkling blue eyes withdrawn and slightly cloudy. She did not make a noise, but seemed to be drawn inside herself, perhaps thinking about the message Paige had received, perhaps thinking about her sisters. Tears began welling up in her eyes, shimmering brightly in the dull lighted room. "That was Jay," Lucy whispered, mostly to herself. The others looked up to see a single tear trickle down Lucy's smooth face and splash onto her knee. "Our whitelighter. That's who it was. My sisters...what if they're...I just deserted them...what...what if they're dead? It'd be all my fault. I left them to deal with the demons. It's my fault!" With that, she dissolved into a flood of tears, burying her head in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably.

Shocked into silence, Piper and Phoebe looked uncomfortably from Lucy to Grams to Patty, but Prue knelt in front of the crying woman and placed her hands on Lucy's knees. "Lucy, look at me." When the younger woman didn't, Prue reached up and lifted her chin gently. Lucy reluctantly looked through tear-filled eyes into the calm, but intense brown ones of Prue. "Lucy, it isn't your fault. What would have happened if you stayed and didn't orb? Youd've been killed too. There would have been no hope for any of you. This demon wants you four dead, and probably wants that to get at us. It's because of you that your sisters are _alive_. It's not because of you that they are in danger.

"But," Lucy sniffed, her throat clogging. "How do you know that they're not dead?"

"Because your whitelighter said to save them. You know you can't save someone who's already dead, if I may put it bluntly, and you know that, or should. You did not desert them, Lucy. You gave them a chance to survive. Why else did you orb here? You gave us a chance to help you, and help you we will. Your sisters' fates, and yours as well, have been placed in our hands. We would die to keep you and your sisters alive. We will do everything in our power to save them. But it is not your fault. By being alive, you are keeping them alive, and we will save them. Do you understand me?" Prue asked, wise eyes searching Lucy's face.

Slowly, Lucy took a breath, then another. It seemed as though she was fighting back the urge to cry, biting her lip hard.

"Lucy?" Prue asked. "Are you with me?"

A strange light, an odd mix between determination and hopelessness shone in the young witch's eye as she looked up, her face hard, and nodded twice.

Prue gave her an encouraging smile and squeezed Lucy's shoulder. "All right." Businesslike, she stood up and turned to her sisters. "Ok. We don't have much time left, so we have to move quickly, and it has to be now. Piper, Paige, you two brew up some vials of the strongest vanquishing potions in the Book of Shadows. Don't worry, Paige, Piper and Grams will help you. Piper has vanquished plenty of demons with potions that she has made up. She's good." At Grams' slight cough of annoyance behind her, Prue added, "And, Grams is pretty damn good at it too. Phoebs, write a spell for a combination of Finding a Lost Witch and Teleportation."

As the four of them set to work, Lucy stopped Prue, who was crossing the attic towards the door, asking, "What can I do?"

Prue almost instructed her to keep out of the way and rest when she caught sight of Lucy's pleading eyes. How could she refuse Lucy's help when it was her sisters they were rescuing? It must be hard enough being safe while the others were in danger. But what could she do? Prue wrinkled her brow, trying to remember an old song that told of the Magicked Ones and their powers:

_Responsible the Eldest is_

_Liable to Explode or Freeze._

_Pensive is the Second,_

_Quiet but deadly,_

_Thrusting Away and Viewing the future._

_The third-born, Compassionate,_

_Flying and Herbs her grace._

_Stubborn be the youngest,_

_Whitelighter and witch combined,_

_With thoughts of Spells and Orbs._

_The Magicked Four are ready,_

_The Power of Four will Protect._

Lucy had the knowlage of spells which would be useful to Phoebe. Prue noted the hopeful look in her Innocent's eye and aknowlaged it. She nodded towards Phoebe. "You can practice your spells with Phoebs." The look of pure gratitude she received made Prue's heart melt. Watching Lucy rise from the couch and join Phoebe at the Book, Prue sighed slightly. There was much to think about and much to do. The biggest task the Charmed Ones had ever faced were upon them, looming like a cloud, a heavy weight on their shoulders. But this was their destiny. The existence of Good rested upon saving the Magicked Ones and banding together to defeat Zoltof and his henchmen. A difficult task, to be sure, especially since they knew nothing of the demon, or any of his followers except that they were extreamly hard to kill. To save the Magicked Ones, the most powerful witches ever along with themselves, was almost an impossible task. But they had to do it for Lucy's sake. For the sake of Good. They were risking more than their lives. They were risking the entire world...the entire existence of Good.


	13. The Connection of Sisterhood

Kings Lioness: You already know that I take great pleasure in keeping you in suspense! It's one of my lots in life! Thanks for your praise!

Patricia L. Bryans: I'm glad you enjoyed the cliffhanger. I always hate those, but it leaves me craving more! And that song took me forever to write! I had to try to be creative, but I think it came out alright. I love your story! Captivating! Thanks for reviewing here!

chuckles1414: Thank you for putting my head straight. I was writing for the reviews, and that is not what I should be doing. I saw that a lot of people had over 100 reviews and I craved to be like that. But you turned me around. Thank you for speaking up. I will indeed continue this story until the end. In the meantime, keep reading it! Thank you for reviewing!

Oni-Gil: FINALLY getting started on an original! And, it wasn't a spell…it was a song describing the Magicked Ones…as you could see… But thanks for reviewing!

A/N: I think that this chapter coming up is one of, if not the best chapter I have written so far in The Choice of Eight. It makes me choke up every time I read it (pardon the pun…which you'll get later in the chapter!) and I really think it's my best writing…and I'm not trying to sound conceited. I'm really not…but, anyway! Enjoy!

-13-

Lynxe had been prowling around her cavern ever since the unregal departure of the Compassionate One, pacing back and forth so that there was a shallow rut in the dirt beneath her feet. She was irked that the two girls had not spoken about their sister, but deep inside, she knew that they wouldn't have anyway. They were too loyal, too attached. She had not expected them to tell her what she wanted. Reason didn't work well with the Quiet One. Physical pain had not succeeded with the Compassionate One. They were strong, that much was very clear. Obviously, they would not tell a demon where their family was, even if they were hurt very badly. They would wilt, however, in the face of a greater pain. Psychological pain. Emotional pain. The pain of a tortured sister would make them speak. The girl's screams would awaken the other to force her to tell. But she had to be able to keep at least one girl alive, so as to further torture her into revealing where the youngest was, should this plan not work. Bribery. Slowly, surely, Lynxe would get her answer. And this seemed the best time and place to do it.

She felt a tremor in the air net to her and turned slightly, enabling herself to see four demons shimmering into her presence, one pair supporting a struggling Heather, the other holding up a dazed and half-conscious Kate. Lynxe gave them enough of her attention to eye them for a brief minute, then she nodded towards the demons, looking away from the girls as if uninterested. "You two, take the Quiet One over there by the trough. You, take the eldest to that chair nearby and tie her up securely. We don't want her using her magic to help her sister. Not that she could." Lynxe watched as Heather was bound tightly to a hard-backed wood chair. The witch grunted slightly as the ropes were pulled tighter around her wrists and ankles, digging into her flesh. A small, thin rope was thrown across her neck and tied behind her so that if she tried to move forward, it would cut off her air, suffocating her, and inflict pain if it cut into her neck. Heather saw, through stinging eyes, her younger sister pulled to a deep basin filled with water and held in front of it. Kate seemed to be fighting to stay awake, struggling to become fully alert and focused, moaning at he pain in the back of her head. Dried blood matted her hair and caked on her face, a crimson stain on a pale, but otherwise tan face. Her left cheek was swollen and bruised, a result of the slap she had received earlier, but her eyes glinted faintly with anger.

Lynxe first approached the Quiet One, the cat advancing on her prey. She stood over the girl, staring loftily down her nose at the brown head of Kate, who did not look up. The demon nudged the woman with the toe of her boot, but still Kate did not raise her head. "Look upon my face, witch," Lynxe hissed. "For it could be the last you'll ever see. Actually," She paused, as if thinking, then corrected herself mockingly. "Silly me to make a mistake about something that crucial. Mine will not be the last you see. Instead, it will be your sister's: the expression she holds as she watches you slowly die. Unless," She let the last word hang in the air, quivering before bringing it down to earth to smash on the stone floor. "Unless your sister can be manipulated into revealing the whereabouts of the youngest Magicked One." Kate shot Heather a glance, her eyes pleading with her sister not to tell anything. Lynxe misinterpreted it. "Do not be afraid, girl. Your precious sisters will join you soon after you pass into the next life. You will not be alone for long."

At this, Kate raised her head and looked her foe squarely in the eye with a passionate, hated look that startled Lynxe. "I'm not afraid to die," Kate snapped. "You're wasting your time with us because you won't get anything out of either of us. I'll die before I tell you anything." Then, she spat on the floor between Lynxe's feet, spitefully.

This time, Lynxe controlled her temper, though a vein in her cheek pulled severely. "Fearlessness is a good quality, witch. But alas, it will not save your sister. It will not protect any of them. They will die because of you. If your sister there has the same attitude as you, you, too, will die. But I shall decide when. Obey me, and your miserable life will be spared. Silence, your death will be slow and oh so painful. It's your choice."

"Do you have too much wax in your ugly, overlarge ears, or did you just not hear me the first time?" Kate hissed, barely able to keep her voice from shaking with anger. "I'll say it slowly for your tiny, incompetent mind to be able to process. I'm-not-saying-anything! Not to a cold-hearted demon like you!"

A single glance from Lynxe, and the demons holding Kate dragged her across the cave floor, up three small steps that seemed to be made of rock, and up to the edge of the trough, thrust her to her knees, and waited. One of the clawed hands holding her arms released it, but snaked slowly and seductively up her neck to clutch her hair tightly, drawing a small gasp of pain from Kate.

"Your tongue will be subdued soon. You need a good cooling off!" Lynxe told her prisoner, before waving her hand in their direction. It happened before Kate had any time to react. She suddenly felt the hand in her hair push her head down. Her abdomen hit the edge of the basin, winding her sharply, and before she knew it, the demon had plunged her head beneath the surface of the icy water. Her eyes still open, Kate saw the hard, wooden side of the trough, the barrier between water and air, the escape rout of her suffocating prison. She was able to keep herself from shouting out, but it was a close thing. Barely any air filled her lungs, and it was quickly using itself up. As oxygen began to escape from her nose and then mouth, small round bubbles floated to the surface of the water, her last bits of air. As carbon dioxide built up in her lungs and began its way through her bloodstream, Kate began to thrash, fighting for air, fighting for freedom, but her arms were held fast behind her and her head was being pushed further in, savagely. Her lungs screamed for air. Her mouth was open and she let out a yell that affected nothing. Black was closing in on her vision from the corners of her eyes as water filled her mouth, her throat, her lungs...

Watching Kate until she began to thrash in the water, Lynxe turned to Heather, who was staring at her younger sister with terror-stricken eyes, her mouth open in a silent scream, after having just shouted Kate's name to the air. "This is punishment for silence. Your sister didn't answer me, so both of you are suffering; she physically, you emotionally. However, if you don't answer me she will suffer more, and perhaps she might even die. So, tell me. Where did your youngest sister disappear to? Where did she orb?"

Heather, who had been securely tied to her chair, watched as her sister fought to dislodge the hands holding her underwater, watched with fear and love. What could she do? Her sister was being deprived of oxygen for too long. She could die, soon. But she had been so strong, not revealing anything. What could she, Heather, do now that would save her sister from a watery grave? Heather felt ashamed of herself. She was the eldest, obligated to protect her sisters for eternity, and here she was, bound to a chair unable to help her sister, her best friend, from drowning. Heather had briefly heard Sam yell something to Lucy, but she thought she had been unconscious and was apparently being shimmered out of the manor at the time. How she even knew was beyond her imagination. A voice echoed in her mind. "Lucy! Go f-" Heather was brought back into reality as Lynxe cackled with cruel laughter. Kate was falling still, ceasing movement slowly.

"No!" Heather cried, unable to stifle her emotions as her sister had done. She tried in vain desperation to force herself from the chair, but the rope around her neck tightened as she leaned forward and she choked, still trying to yell, to plead for her sister's release. "No! Kate! Please, let her-" But her voice was cut off by a sharp tug on the rope from behind, and Kate choked on her own words. Immediately, Lynxe swooped down upon the demon responsible, flogging him with her claws, raking his face.

"Lay not a hand on that rope! Touch not the Magicked One or you will die like that one!" Lynxe's hand pointed at Kate, who had stopped moving at last. Then turning her head to the others, she snapped, "Lift her out!"

Kate was hauled out of the water, hair and torso soaking wet. Heather watched anxiously as the demons threw her sister to the ground, where Kate lay motionless. It was several seconds before Kate's body jolted and she spluttered. A gush of water spewed from her mouth and onto the dirt as she began gagging up the deadly liquid, expelling the suffocating element from her lungs and throat. Her stomach heaved as more water poured from her mouth. She gasped and coughed. When she had enough energy and movement back into her limbs and muscles, she looked up at Heather, her red eyes boring into Heather's tear-filled brown ones. Slowly, she shook her head, then coughed out, "Don't…tell…Lucy…no...please…"

Heather, her breath returning, replied, "No, Kate. I can't let them do this to you! They'll kill you!"

Kate was trembling, but Heather was not sure if it was from anger, cold, or even involuntary. "Then...let me...die. You...protect...Lucy." She dissolved into coughing again, gasping in oxygen as fast as her lungs would let her.

"I have to protect you, Kate! You are my sister too! I can't let you die! I can't let that happen!"

A look of intensity from Kate surprised Heather into silence. Her younger sister was staring straight into her eyes, not blinking. "She…is…the only…one…who can…help…"

Her face creased in an evil grin, Lynxe turned to Heather after watching what Kate had said. "So, what is your decision, Magicked One? Tell me where your sister is…" She waved a hand behind her, not even bothering to turn around. Kate was again pulled to the water and submerged with barely even a breath to sustain her before. "…Or watch your sister slowly drown."

Heather's forehead was furrowed after what her sister had said. _Lucy was the only one who can help…_ help what? It made no sense. Her mind worked furiously. Her tearfilled, liquid, brown eyes never left her sister's thrashing body as she tried to gather her senses. She knew nothing more than what Sam had begun to yell. By saying that, Heather could save Kate's life and she, Kate, and Sam could maybe recover their strength enough to protect Lucy. As Kate's body movements slowed again, Heather panicked. Her sister would die! She couldn't let that happen! Nothing would be more heartbreaking than losing a sister. Who cares if Sam hadn't said anything? Or Kate? Kate!

Without warning, Heather was struck still, as if hit over the head with a bat, or as if she had suddenly been shocked with a jolt of electricity and the power was flowing through her veins. She let out a harsh breath and her body went taught as her eyes clamped shut.

_She saw herself surrounded by her three sisters, all of whom were clasping the hand beside them, but there were white lights flowing from their bodies. The lights were not whitelighter lights. They were more important to them, connected. The four were being drained of their powers by Lynxe and another demon she recognized: The Source of All Evil. Noises in the very back of her head were screaming, pleading, praying. 'Don't! Don't do this to them! Take us! Take us instead!' That couldn't be themselves she heard. But there were only the four of them in the line of her vision. Only four, but it sounded like more. But her sisters...they were all together. And they were all alive. _

Suddenly, Heather was pulled back into reality again, but not before an unrecognizable pair of light brown eyes looked straight into her own, sending a shiver through Heather's body, like she recognized the eyes. Then, as soon as they had come, they were gone. Heather gasped and opened her eyes as she came out of the premonition, and immediately looked for her sister. Kate was moving only slightly, her feet barely scraping the ground, then, all movements ceased and she went limp in the hands of the demons holding her down to her death.

"Wait!" Heather yelled, forgetting the noose about her neck. As she tried to spring up to run to Kate, the rope tightened mercilessly on her windpipe, but she ignored it, gasping out as much as she could. "You need all four of us! You can't kill...Kate! You need her! You need all of us! You...can't get to our powers...without the Power of Four...alive!"

Lynxe halted mid-prowl. She had been moving towards the Quiet One to check if she was truly dead, but the Responsible One's voice had slashed across her mind. Had this girl just been revealed to her plan? How? The witch's powers don't work in the Underworld, she had made sure of that. Was she so powerful that she had had an unexpected vision? This witch could not have had a premonition. It was not her power...

She turned to Heather, who struggled against her bonds, furiously shouting, "You need us!"

Lynxe swept over the distance between herself and Heather in almost a blink of an eye and caught Heather's throat in her hand, holding the girl, pressing her against the back of the chair. The demon's yellow eyes were swimming with loathing as she leaned closer, completely cutting off Heather's air supply. Ignoring the woman's frightened and harsh gasps and wide eyes, Lynxe leaned forward so their noses were almost touching, hissed into her face, "You know too much, witch! Though how I know not. True, I need all of you alive. You are smart to mention that before you die. Though it might not be enough to save your sister! As you can see, she is already dead. She drowned as you tried to figure out your petty thoughts! It's your fault that she is dead and that your other sister are in danger! However, I will see each one of you dead before long, even if I don't receive your powers! You will tell me where the youngest is, or die at my hand!"

Blackness swirled in on Heather as her oxygen was depleted, but she managed to gasp, "Need...alive..." With a howl of anger, the demon pressed harder on Heather's throat for several long seconds, watching the girl's eyes cloud over, then she stood up abruptly, releasing Heather and motioning the demons to pull Kate's form from the water. As they heaved the still, drowning girl out, Lynxe swirled on her heal and shimmered from the cave. Kate was dropped on the ground, where she lay, stretched out and unmoving. The demon behind Heather quickly cut her bonds, allowing her to collapse to the dusty floor, then he shimmered as well. The rest of the demons followed suit, leaving the eldest Millers together.

Heather lay on the floor, still for a few brief seconds, the she began choking and coughing, her swollen throat working for air. Her arms, sluggish and unresponsive after being bound for a long time, tried to move slowly to her neck in an effort to bring air into her lungs quicker, but they remained limp on the ground. Warm blood seeped from a thin wound that ran across her neck, which was now raw and painful. As her breath slowly returned, Heather remembered her sister. Heather's head raised slightly from the ground, and she saw Kate lying still and not breathing, her eyes closed and lips blue from lack of oxygen.

"No," choked Heather, and she dragged herself the ten yards to her sister's side. Weak but panicked into action, Heather turned Kate over onto her back. Kate's head rolled limply to the side as Heather pushed herself to her knees, trying to elevate herself. "Kate," She sobbed tears leaking from her eyes, her hands furiously fumbling to unbutton Kate's soaking top in order to take it off of her sister's cold body. Her hands clasped and were pushing on Kate's chest before she realized what she was doing, performing CPR unconsciously. "Come on, Kate! This is all my fault. I couldn't protect you. Don't be dead. Oh, please live, Kate! For me, for Sam. For Lucy. Katie, come on." She was distraught and anxious, almost unaware that she had used her mother's pet name for her younger sister.

After a few long minutes of pumping Kate's heart and breathing into her lungs, Kate jerked slightly underneath Heather. The older woman looked at her sister's pale face abruptly, not believing that her sister had made movement. Even she knew that Kate had to be dead. She was held underwater too long. She couldn't be alive. She couldn't...

A wave of water burst from Kate's mouth as Heather breathed for her, almost choking Heather. She sat up, spitting water from her mouth as Kate's body became conscious again, spasoming with impulses that were beyond her mind. Heather hurriedly turned Kate on her side so as to protect her sister from again swallowing the water she was coughing out, supporting her torso with her own body. Kate's chest jerked weakly, coughing out liquid that splashed on the floor. She gasped between coughs, as if trying to get air at the same time, then retched. Heather did not bother to get out of the way as Kate vomited up the contents of her stomach which, though was mostly water, contained bits of past meals, though when they had last eaten was beyond her. Heather supported Kate as she vomited up more water, patting her back to make sure Kate got it all up. "Come on, Katie, breathe! I need you! We all need you!" She pulled Kate into her lap, rocking her back and forth as Kate continued to dispel liquid.

Kate gasped and harshly drew in air, the color in her cheeks slowly beginning to return. She felt her sister's arms around her shoulders as she coughed up more streams of water. Weak and shaky, she relaxed into her sister's hold. Heather feared the worst when she felt her sister go limp again. Drawing her tighter against her body, Heather whispered into Kate's ear, "Kate, please, I'm alive because of you. I need you. Don't leave me now." Dissolving into tears, Heather buried her head into Kate's dark brown locks, her tears flowing freely down her cheeks to mingle with her sister's wet hair.

"Heather."

A whisper floated into Heather's ears like a cloud on which angels were suspended. "Kate!" Heather breathed, pulling Kate away from her and holding her at half-arms length so as to see her. Kate's eyes were open slightly, still gray and cloudy from lack of air, fighting to focus on her sister and her hands were weakly grasping Heather's shirt. "Oh, Kate!" Heather pulled Kate even closer to herself and rocked her back and forth, sobbing. "Kate! Thank God. I thought that I lost you!" Crying uncontrollably, Heather hugged her younger sister, not daring to let her go. "My little Katie. Please, don't leave me!"

Kate winced as her ribs, which were already bruised from the basin edge, pressed against Heather's shaking frame and she managed to whisper, "Heather, you saw...hurting me..." She moved slightly, trying to dislodge herself, but Heather held her fast.

"I'm never letting you go. I can't let you die. Oh, this is all my fault. I could have protected you. I'm supposed to protect you and watch out for you guys…and…and you almost died because I failed. This is all my fault. Lucy gone...Sam and you hurt...mom and dad..."

"Heather, listen to me," Kate interrupted her, as sharply as she could under the circumstances. She struggled to sit up, but Heather's arms were like a vice around her, so she gave up and spoke from where she was. "Heather, it's not your...none of this is your fault...You've done more...than you should...more than someone your age...should. We're

alive...together...because of you. I'm here because…because of you. No matter...what happens," She gasped, lifting her arm to put a hand to Heather's tear streaked cheek. "No matter what happens, I love you. I'll love you for eternity." Her hand fell back to her chest, and she went limp in Heather's arms again, her eyes fluttering shut...

"Oh, Kate," Heather choked, and embraced her sister again, holding the shaking girl tight, never letting her go.


	14. A Premonition of Terror

Patricia L. Bryans: Hopefully this chapter will clear up your question about the premonition…if not, I'll clarify in the next update after this! Thanks for again, reviewing! Oh, and your recent chapter….wow, man! Made me cry!

Oni-Gil: It's not supposed to be 'touching', doofus! () It's supposed to be SAD! Hehe. Thanks for reviewing.

chuckles1414: I don't think you're a weirdo at all! I love evil people, and I love violence happening to the hero or heroine of the story! Now THAT is odd! I was hoping someone would mention that Lynxe was a b!tch! That's how I make her! She's an evil, no good, slimy, evil, ugly (well, not really…) piece of…

Nikkifier: Thank you for taking your time to read my story! I'm so sorry that you've been ill! I hope you get better and update your thing soon as well! I really appreciate that you're taking time to read this! I hope you enjoy it, because I really enjoy writing it.

Mrs. H Potter: You review was well liked! Thanks for reading this story and taking your time to do so. I am excited to start reading some of your works.

-14-

Lucy Miller sat with Phoebe on the overstuffed sofa in the Halliwell's dusty attic, still wrapped in the soft, blue blanket that had been given to her by Grams when she fell asleep, helping Phoebe to write a spell that would hopefully find her sisters. Her back was stiff, but she tried not to show any pain, trying to seem weak. As she shifted to get a better position on the sofa, her hand brushed against Phoebe's leg.

A dark scene hit the minds of Lucy and Phoebe like twin thunderbolts_. Two huge, cloaked demons were standing side by side in the midst of hundreds more evil creatures: banshees, furies, trolls, and demon, each of their faces turned towards the bigger two. Those two seemed to be pulling…forcing something out of four figures…four girls, it seemed to be. They were on their knees together, their hands clasping each other's while a light, but powerful cloud of energy or something along those lines was being torn from their broken and bloody bodies…. _

Startled, Lucy tried to push the horrific image away from her, fighting to come back to reality.

Paige turned in her chair as she heard the Book of Shadows drop to the floor to see Lucy convulsing and twitching violently on the floor, and Phoebe sitting with her eyes shut and hands clenched, mouth moving slightly in silent words. "Mom!" Paige cried, frightened, not knowing what was happening to her sister and charge. She sprang up from the chair next to Piper and hurried across the room to Lucy. Fiercely, she reached out to take hold of Lucy's hand, when Lucy suddenly opened her eyes and jerked awake. Gasping, she slid down further on the floor, her hands, though clenched beside her, shaking uncontrollably. Phoebe still did not change her position, nor did she wake up.

Patty had stopped what she was doing immediately when she heard her daughter shout, and turned around. Although Lucy had been seizuring for an unknown reason, Patty recognized Phoebe's symptoms right away. Crossing quickly to Lucy's side, Patty got to her knees and steadied the girl by placing a cool hand to her shoulder and asked gently, "Lucy, what did you see?"

The girl looked up at her, still trying to catch her breath and figure out what had just happened, her eyes wide and frightened. "What do you mean, 'what did I see?' You mean like a premonition? I don't get premonitions, Kate does. I can't have…I couldn't have…" She stopped as reality hit her. What else could explain her vision? Her vision…She remembered. "But I saw the demon."

"What?" Prue was making her way to the sofa as well, but she stopped short when Phoebe suddenly gasped and opened her eyes as well.

Patty looked at Phoebe quizzically, then turned her head back to Lucy. "What…what is going on?"

Piper now stood next to Phoebe and put a slightly shaking hand on her sister's shoulder and asked carefully, "Phoebe, did you just get a premonition?" Her sister looked at her with cool brown eyes and nodded. Piper looked up at her mother, confused. "Lucy, did you touch Phoebe? Any time before you Saw?"

Lucy concentrated. "I-I don't know…wait. I must have touched her when I shifted positions on the couch. I was uncomfortable and thinking about my sisters…But, that still doesn't explain why _I_ got a premonition. That's Kate's power, not mine. I can't See into the future."

"And how did she come out of the vision sooner than Phoebs if she did get a premonition?" Piper asked Patty. "Wouldn't they both have had the same premonition for the same length of time?"

Until now, Grams had stood in the corner, shadowed, silent, and pondering. Now, however, she moved forward to join the rest of her family around the couch. She explained what she concurred with a quiet, yet decisive voice. "Lucy, did you try to pull out of the premonition, or try to push it away from you?" When Lucy nodded to the second option, Grams concluded, "This explains why Lucy came out of it quicker than Phoebe. She managed to get out, but in doing so, she gave the rest of it to another person…someone else, but we won't know who that is. It could be witch or human. Now, Lucy, tell me exactly what you saw."

Lucy glanced at Prue once, as if to get her approval, then said, shakily, "I saw the demon who attacked us at the manor. That one and another." She narrowed her eyes in concentration, but the vision was slipping away from her like water held in cupped hands. "I think there was another. I can't think…then, there were four people on their knees and a silver cloud was seeping from them." She put her hand to her head in frustration, rubbing her temples. "I can't remember anything more. That's all I saw. Then, I panicked and tried to force the premonition away. I couldn't think at all."

Phoebe nodded while Lucy was finishing her narrative. "I saw all that too and yes, there were two demons. One was the demon who attacked you. The other was the Source."

"Great," Piper muttered, trying to lower her voice enough so that only her sisters could hear, but Lucy's face bent more into a frown as she continued. "Two of the most powerful demons in the world using their powers together against those four. I hope they survive."

"But wait," Phoebe said, interrupting her sister, at the same time as Prue's foot kicked out at Piper's shins, drawing a sharp breath from Piper. "I think I know who the four were." She looked pointedly at Lucy, whose breath suddenly caught in her throat. Why hadn't she thought of that before? Was she stupid?

"Us," she whispered. "Those four people…were us. My sisters and I. But-but what was happening? What was that silver stream coming out from us? Were those," She stopped and swallowed hard, realizing at once what it was, and shivered with fear. "Our…powers? Or our souls?"

No one spoke for a few long seconds. Prue, Piper, and Paige's eyes were flicking around the room at each other and at their mother and grandmother, unable to respond. How were they supposed to respond to that? Phoebe, however, spoke again. "But, I saw more, and I saw it all more clearly than Lucy did, as it is my power. But I don't think you should listen, Luce." The look she gave the Miller then was a mixed one, difficult to distinguish. Was it concern? Or love? Fright? Or was it anguish?

Her eyes and expression made Lucy's stomach drop away into the floor and her hands suddenly went numb, but she looked Phoebe straight in the eye and, though trying to keep her voice from shaking, demanded, "Tell me."

Phoebe's light brown eyes remained on Lucy for a while longer, and then she averted her gaze and explained, after taking a deep, steadying breath. "I saw each of your sisters, one at a time, each being…tortured. One was tied up to a wooden pole by her wrists, screaming while being…" She took another deep breath then continued. "Being electrocuted by the demon who kidnapped them. She was screaming so horribly…" Trying to ignore Lucy's sharp intake of breath, Phoebe struggled with her vision, trying to tell the horrific things that she witnessed without bursting into tears or vomiting. "Then, I saw another being choked from behind with a rope while she watched the third being held underwater…drowning in a basin of water, thrashing and fighting to get out. Demons were holding her down. There were so many demons around them, guarding them. The sisters must have been…tortured for information. But then, right before I came out of the premonition, the sister in the chair looked right at me. I mean straight at me. She was choking and coughing, and her eyes were clouding over, but she looked at me. I don't know how, and I don't know if she saw me at all, or how she saw me if she did. But I saw her…that's all I know." She finished her story with a melodramatic ending, and looked back at Lucy, whose cheeks were stained with tears and whose hands were clamped over her wide-open mouth in shock and fright. "I'm sorry," she told her charge, softly. She felt foolish. After just telling this girl that she had seen her sisters tortured to death, all she could say was sorry. What else could she say?

Again, silence drifted over the room, settling into the corners like a blanket. No one looked at Lucy. Piper's eyes were on Prue's hand. Prue was staring at her mother, who was in turn watching Phoebe. As Phoebe studied her feet, Lucy's sobs escaped from her mouth and everyone looked back up. Lucy's face was pale and tears were sliding down her cheeks, but she made no move to stop them. Her sisters were being tortured. Hurt. Killed. Probably to reveal where Lucy was now. They were in pain and there was nothing Lucy could do to help them, in fact, it was because of her that this was happening. If only she was with them now. She was alone with only four other women who, while being witches themselves, did not even know how to save them. The most powerful witches in the world were stumped on how to rescue the Millers. What could they do? Her sisters could be dying at this very moment and they were no closer to finding the way.

"Lucy," A voice whispered, startling the woman out of her woes. Hesitantly, Lucy looked up into Piper's face. Piper was fighting back tears as she watched the youngest Magicked One wallowing in helpless despair. She could not imagine how Lucy felt right now, but she couldn't just leave Lucy to die in her grief. "We will get them back," she continued, trying to sound sure of herself. "I promise you." She slid one of her smooth, tan hands into Lucy's cold ones and squeezed it, trying to act reassuringly.

Lucy did not bother to hide her grief. She rocked back and forth on the couch, wringing Piper's hand with her own, tears splashing onto her knee. "I'm scared," Lucy whispered to the air, and ducked her head as more tears welled in her eyes. She coughed and then dissolved further into sadness.

Piper winced as her hand was pressed tightly, but she hid her pain. Her free arm trickled around Lucy's shoulders, then in a motherly gesture, she pulled the girl close to her own body. Lucy's head dropped slowly to rest on Piper's shoulder as Piper comfortingly stroked Lucy's knee and gripped her gently, supporting the younger girl's quivering body. "I know," Piper whispered in reply. _Me too_. She thought, but didn't say it out loud. That was the last thing Lucy needed right now. For her to break down as well. But she was scared for the Millers. Scared for her own family. Scared for what could, and would ultimately, come to pass.


	15. The Hatred Combined

Oni-Gil: Yes, that is quite aggravating…and it probably will happen more. Actually, I assure you it will!

chuckles1414: Well, I won't say if anything is going to end happily ever after or not…but I'm glad you enjoy the story and I'm glad that you want everyone to be happy! So do I, but my brain seems to go on its own path…

Patricia L. Bryans: I'm glad that cleared it up for you. Basically, Phoebe got the premonition, Lucy intercepted it, and she sent it to Heather, who almost saw the entire thing, but it stopped before she saw herself and her sisters, as she already knew where they were. But the eyes she saw were Phoebe's, in case the chapter did not clear that up…I'm not sure I even brought up the premonition later, but now I'll have to add that in…well, now you've just seen a sneak peek! 

Thank you all, for reading this! It is getting to the action bits, I promise!

-15-

A roaring fire blazed red-hot in the huge, ancient stone fireplace set into the rough walls of the meeting cave. The great block of oak wood that fueled the fire cracked and spewed sparks across the dirt carpet, searching for anything in its path to consume. Despite the fire however, the room was filled with cold evil.

Seated imperiously at a small round stone table, shrouded in black and its face hidden, was the Source of All Evil. Seated at his left hand was the quivering demon, Justain, who continuously shot furtive glances at his master and then at the only exit. The Source remained still and silent, calm but anticipating the arrival of the demon who was to meet him.

After a short moment, Justain spoke, the sudden noise breaking the air sharply but not startling the Source at all. "Lord, I am gratified that you chose me to accompany you-"

"I did not choose you for your loyalty, Justain. You know too much to have left you behind. Although, I might as well kill you now, as you are no use to me anyway. Pathetic demons who can't even capture a witch are no good." A sharp intake of breath from the other demon was heard only by the Source who smiled, inwardly pleased that he implanted so much fear into low beings, but he resisted in actually killing Justain. Who knows? He might come in useful in the near future. After all, he did manage to kill a Magicked One…perhaps he would do so again.

A sudden apparition appeared in front of the table as Lynxe and her back-up demon formed from the air effortlessly, but the Source didn't bother to rise, nor welcome her. Why would he? He had to show her that he was the boss, not the other way around. Instead, he leaned back in his chair. "Greetings," he offered, gesturing at a seat with forced courtesy.

"Greetings," Lynxe replied, slowly sitting opposite of the demon, sizing him up out of the corner of one evil eye. This "Lord of the Underworld" certainly had power and followers, many of them, but her master was much more powerful than all of them combined. This should be easy.

The Source spoke first, still maintaining his role as the more powerful in an effort to wow this new female demon. "I understand you're master, Zoltof, has succeeded in capturing the Magicked Ones," he rasped.

Lynxe nodded her head slightly, revealing nothing by speaking only the amount of words necessary. "You understand correctly."

Silence reigned in the cave for a few seconds. _This demon has done what my followers could not_, thought the Source, coolly. Never before had a group of witches been captured together with all of them alive. Especially not a group of witches with a powerful reputation, whom demons feared to go against. Just how powerful was this Zoltof? These Magicked Ones were not a push over by any means. "And what are you planning to use the witches for?" The Source inquired aloud.

Lynxe stared into the demon's unseen face, working to identify and eye or mouth, but could see nothing except the black shrouds. What did this demon want with the Magicked Ones? If he was so powerful, why weren't the Magicked ones, or the Charmed Ones for that matter, killed or captured before now? Surely if this "Source" were so powerful he would have killed them by now. "To get to the Charmed Ones, then destroy all seven witches, enabling us to rid the world of Good at last," She answered, slowly, deliberately lengthening her explanation create suspense.

"Even with the Magicked Ones in your master's control, the Charmed Ones will be a great obstacle to conquer. They are extremely powerful, dangerous, and they are not daft to their situation. They will fight back hard, make no mistake. They will try to save the Magicked Ones, without a doubt. They are all…_sister witches_ after all." The Source was warning this demon, but he was careful not to hint that Zoltof was weak. The Source was ambitious, but he valued his life and knew where to draw the line.

Lynxe leaned forward, her arms on the table. "What are you suggesting?" She hissed, though interested in the Source's information.

"I am suggesting that perhaps you require more help. My help. Together, we can surely defeat the witches and achieve a Utopia for the demonic race, as well as for all the Evil in the universe. No longer will we have to battle the witches for freedom or preservation of life. No longer will we have to hide in the Underworld, biding our time. Our time is now. Now is our time to conquer! It is the age of Evil. Why else could you defeat the Magicked Ones so easily? The force of Evil is growing and between your master, you, and myself, nothing will stand in our way. Nothing! Then we will rule the demons together." The Source had leaned forward on the table, capturing Lynxe's full attention with his short speech.

"How do you profit?" Lynxe whispered, suspicious as ever of a plot twist, but her eyes were glinting, betraying her desire.

"Profit?" The Source repeated, trying to keep the glee out of his voice. The demon was almost in his grasp. "No profit except a safe way to live, no witches barging in, trying to vanquish me with spells and potions every day. I only have one condition should you join me."

"And that is?"

"I kill the ones they call Prue and Kate. Those witches have always been the backbone of Good, even if no one has had the sense to see it. I have. Kate has always been able to evade capture and assassination, and Prudence is the one chucking potions at me continuously and escaping each demon I throw at her, even Barbas, the demon of fear. With both of them dead, their sisters will not stand a chance. Your master is free to do what you wish with the remaining witches, as long as I get those two. So, what do you say?"

Lynxe straightened in her chair, pretending to be thinking, but really listening to a whisper of air that blew by her ear which said, "Do it." She could not disobey her master's orders. "We agree to your request."

The Source could barely contain his happiness as he asked another question, now more comfortable in his role as the master. "Where are you keeping the Magicked Ones?"

"In a holding cave in my master's lair," was all Lynxe said.

"I have an incredibly safe place to keep the witches until we capture the Charmed Ones."

"As have we," Lynxe replied again, coolly.

"I don't doubt that," the Source said, nodding once to show his understanding. Well, that was the wrong thing to have questioned this demon about. There was no need to upset her, after all. Not when they were going to be…partners. "However, my lair holds caves with the utmost security and my demons are more than capable of handling a few witches."

Lynxe couldn't curb her tongue in time. "Like you've handled the Charmed Ones in the past?"

The other demon's lip curled. "With my cave and your demons, the Magicked Ones could never escape."

_Doubtful_, Lynxe thought, but replied, "Your idea is a good one, but have you considered escape? Given the chance, these witches will stop at nothing to escape, and I'm sure the Charmed Ones are already searching for them."

"Impossible," interjected the Source. "Guards will be posted at all times, and this particular cavern is extremely difficult to detect, as it is cloaked magically. The witches will be chained there until you see fit to use one of them as you will. Well, do we agree to everything?"

Lynxe spat on her hand and held it out. The cloaked demon before her did the same, and they grasped hands, claw to claw, the hatred and evil mingling.

The deal was made. The war had begun.

**A/N: I apologize for the briefness of this chapter. I felt that the shorter the better when dealing with evil. Everyone knows their intentions, besides, demonic leaders don't much enjoy talking to one another…but that's the explanation of why this chapter is so dang short!**


	16. Questions, Spells, and Hope

Oni-Gil: I shall get to the ending when it gets here! Patience, young Padawan!

Patricia L. Bryans: I love how you imagine the demons…though, that is not quite how I see them. They're evil pieces of stuff I can't say online and I love writing about them! The fun parts are coming up in a couple of chapters!

chuckles1414: Thank you for your kind words! I'm glad you enjoy this story! I like writing it!

-16-

"Potion's done!" Prue announced happily, tossing the last pigs foot into the already-full cauldron over the stove, causing the entire contents to eject a puff of putrid-smelling smoke.

Piper, who had been trying to read the Book of Shadows for ingredients as her sister mad the potion, coughed and stumbled across to the kitchen window, thrusting it open and waving the smoke outside frantically. "Thanks for the proclamation and the warning, Prue. Are you sure everything is in there?" She asked for the third time, sticking her head out the window for a breath of fresh air.

"Positive," Prue replied, ladleing portions of the potion into small bottles and corking them snugly. "I checked four times. Don't worry so much. How's Paige's potion coming?"

"For a beginner it's really good," Piper replied, crossing back to her eldest sister and peering over her shoulder at the potion with an expression of disgust and admiration on her face. "She really does have the Halliwell blood in her."

Prue leaned on her hand, which was resting on the counter and looked at Piper, saying, "I hope she's a fast learner. We need her powers, especially her orbing. How is she going to track the Millers if they're in the Underworld, anyway?" She asked.

"It is possible," Piper reminded her, gathering bottles and stowing them all in a shoulder bag. "Leo can do it, and Paige is half-whitelighter. But I hope that 'half' part of her actually is able to sense."

"Why can't Lucy?"

"She's not part whitelighter."

Prue was puzzled. "Then how-"

"-does she orb?" Piper completed Prue's sentence with raised eye brow and a look of the same confusion. "Your guess is as good as mine. There has to be someone in her ancestry who has whitelighter blood. Couldn't her mother orb?"

Shrugging, Prue said, "I don't know. I don't know much about the Miller line. In all the stories Grams told us she could. But Grams could really stretch the truth sometimes," she added, as Piper raised an eyebrow.

Piper helped her sister gather the bottles of potions into a handbag. "Well, if neither of them can sense them, we might be screwed. But Paige still doesn't know the limits to her powers."

"Yeah, well, I just hope she can get them down enough to keep us safe-" But as Prue spoke, the bag with the potions suddenly dissolved into white lights and disappeared from its resting spot on the counter.

Piper grinned at her sister. "I think she's got it down."

Prue smirked at Piper. "Paige," she yelled, fighting back laughter. "I hope you're done with that potion, since you keep messing around with your telekinesis! That's personal gain, by the way!"

The girls jumped as Paige orbed into the kitchen, holding the bag that she had telekinetically called. "The potion is done and bottled, Prue my sweet." Paige answered, patting the bag, happily. "And, I'm practicing," she continued, drawing the last word out with a flourish. "How can it be personal gain when I use my powers to help me master them faster in order to save another family of witches?"

Prue and Piper exchanged sly looks. "She as a point," Piper said to her sister, earning yet another teasing look from Prue.

"And, after all, Phoebe and Lucy are nearly done with the spell, so we're almost ready." Paige stopped talking and looked at the cauldron, her brown eyes staring at it, but not focusing.

Prue tilted her head slightly, concerned. "What's wrong, sweetie?" She asked.

"Nothing," Paige replied, trying and failing to flash a reassuring smile to her eldest sister.

"Are you sure," Piper asked, placing a hand on Paige's shoulder. "You can tell us. You can trust us. We're your sisters and we've gone through what you're going through."

"It's just," Paige paused, figuring out what to say. "It's just, you guys have done this kind of thing before. Ok, a lot. And, well, I'm still a rookie. I don't even know what we're up against. What we're fighting against."

"Do you want to find out?" Prue asked her quietly. Pagie nodded. "Ok. Orb us up to the attic."

Piper coughed. "Uh, Prue?" She looked pointedly at the ceiling before adding, "Personal gain?"

Prue waved her hand, brushing the comment aside. "Oh, Paige is right. She has to learn."

"All of us?" Paige looked uncertain, wondering if she could orb more than herself.

"You're going to have to start practicing, because you'll be orbing four of us to the Underworld if Lucy can't. You can do it. Just focus," Piper told her.

Paige put her arms around Prue and Piper's shoulders, focused her mind on the attic, and orbed. After the odd sensation of being demoleculerized, the attic appeared in front of her almost instantly. Quickly, she looked to either side of her. Prue and Piper were still there holding onto her waist, completely whole. She breathed a sigh of relief. "See?" Prue said. "You can orb more than yourself."

"Sweet," Paige commented, smiling in spite of herself. Piper laughed and detached herself from her sister before crossing to the Book of Shadows. She knew exactly what she was looking for and flipped the yellowed pages gently until she found it.

"This is one of the demons we're up against," Piper said, one hand on the page to hold its place, the other gesturing Paige over. As Paige crossed to the Book, Phoebe, who were sitting at the table completing the spell with Lucy, looked up. The Miller did not. The youngest Charmed One read the description of the Source of All Evil loudly and clearly.

**The Source of all Evil can be sensed by demons. He can be hurt by energy balls. Gargoyles can protect buildings from him. His demonic powers include shape shifting (glamouring power), energy balls, zapping, flaming in and out, he can manipulate people's mind or burn with a view and has many more powers.**

**The Source's face was disfigured in the battle that brought him to power. Only upper level demons have seen it. The Source ruled the underworld for over 500 years. In this time he banished the vampires who tried to sell him to his enemies and killed almost all wizards. He incarcerated the Tall man Demon and Zankou. He can be sensed by other demons.**

She finished reading and looked up, terrified, at her sisters and charge, who were all watching her. Phoebe added to Paige's fear as she said, "That's only one of the demons we have to face. Zoltof is much stronger than the Source, or that's what it seems like. But even if it means death, we will fight both of them to save the Millers and destroy Evil. We have to stick together to stay alive. Remember, nothing is stronger than love for one another. Stay true to those you care about. Don't worry. We'll keep you safe.""Thanks," Paige responded, looking a touch more reassured. "And I'll do everything I can to keep you all safe."

Prue smiled, though it was a bit hard. "We know you will, sweetie."

"Phoebe?" Lucy spoke for the first time since they had orbed into the room. She stood and held the sheet of paper the two of them had been working on towards her. "It's done." She averted her eyes as the others looked at her. She had been quiet and withdrawn ever since Phoebe had told them about her premonition. Her sisters were fighting death while she was safe and under the protection of the most powerful witches in the world. Despite being comforted and consoled by the other witches, Lucy still couldn't help feeling guilty about her being safe. She wanted, more than anything, to be with her sisters right now, even if it meant shuddering and dying with them. At last she would be with them. Lucy jumped as a hand touched her shoulder.

"Lucy?" It was Prue.

"Lucy shook her head. "It's nothing," she told her, but Prue could see right though the young woman.

"You have to believe in their strength, Lucy," Prue told her gently. "They will survive. They have each other. They have you to stay alive for. You have us. We can help you and we will help you. You just have to believe. Stay strong, Lucy. Stay strong for your sisters."

Piper had come up behind the two, waiting until Prue had finished speaking before saying quietly, "We're ready when you are." Her hands went to their shoulders and tightened slightly, expressing her slight unease. Something wasn't right. Something was wrong or will be wrong, she knew it. _No,_ she told herself. _Don't you start that, Piper Halliwell. Prue would never forgive you if you made a mistake now. Snap out of it and pull yourself together._

Grams and Patty came into the room then. They had left to give Lucy, Phoebe and Pagie some quiet privacy in order for them to concentrate, and now came back, changed from their angelic robes into jeans and shirts leftover from their days in the manor. Patty crossed to the long mirror in the corner and examined herself, turning this way and that, running a hand over her waist. "Well," she exclaimed, examining her slim figure. "I'm surprised these still fit. It's been years since I've worn jeans."

"Over twenty, in fact," Prue commented, quietly, her eyes on her mother. Patty's eyes flickered but she kept silent. She knew that Prue got upset when her death was brought up. In a way, Prue still thought that it had been her own fault, when it was anyone's but.

"Enough, Prue," Grams whispered to her eldest granddaughter when she passed by her shoulder, but said it too quietly so no one else could hear.

Patty stood by Piper, Phoebe, and Lucy, then gestured to her eldest and youngest daughters to come close and clasp hands. "My dears, this is the time. We have vanquishing potions, holding crystals, and the spell to vanquish the Source as well as a spell to take us to the Magicked Ones. Besides that, we have each other. That's all. But it's now or never. The lives of three sisters, three witches, three women, rest in your hands. The entire being of Good and Evil shall be determined after this is all over. This is your destiny. Your legacy. And your time is now. Blessed be, my children." She stepped back, out of the way.

Phoebe knew it was her time to take over. She held the parchment she and Lucy had written on and read the spell scrawled on it in a loud, clear, carrying voice.

Powers of the witches rise,

Course unseen across the skies.

Take us to the ones we seek,

Take us there so we might meet.

Three sisters taken by Evil,

Lead us to where they dwell.

Loved ones we are destined to save,

Hidden in a concealed cave.

Take us there so we might fight,

For Magicked Ones,

This endless night.

A magical breeze suddenly swirled around the room, lifting the hair on each head. As the wind intensified, Lucy squinted into the brightest light she had ever encountered. As the light twirled about them, she tried to clear her mind. Her final thought was of holding tighter to Prue and Phoebe's hands, then everything went black.**  
**


	17. Another Plan, Another Horror

Patricia L. Bryans: I liked that exchange between Paige, Prue, and Piper. I thought that's how they would act around each other, even if they had just met. I tried to make it so that Paige fit in with her sisters and took a shine to them quickly. And, I love writing the spells. Often times I just write and they turn out ok. I never had to rewrite one. I just put in what I first come up with. Though, I was just writing something for later in the story and I have to revise it a bit. It kinda sucks……but thanks for reading still!

Oni-Gil: Thanks for pointing out my mistake. I did fix it. And, I guess that'll work with the picture and all. But you'd better do it!

chuckles1414: Thanks for your review! It makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside!

-17-

Lynxe stood beside the Source of All Evil as they watched the three Magicked Ones being bound by their hands to the stone wall with heavy chains. Her master had been eager to move the witches for some reason. It was no wonder he told her to agree with the Source's compromise, no matter what she felt about it, considering he was anxious to evacuate the witches. When they had arrived at the Source's cavern, Zoltof had instructed three of his lesser demons to remain in the cave where the Magicked Ones had been held, instructing them to stay and…do something. Lynxe did not know what he had told them, and apparently there was no reason for her to know, or he surely would have told her.

"Three."

Lynxe turned to face the Source but was suddenly grabbed roughly by the throat by a knarled claw. Instinctively her hands shot up, trying vainly to loosen the grip that the Source had.

"There are only THREE!"

The demonic woman was astounded at the Source's strength. Try as she might, her fingers could not pry his hands away from her neck and she began to see spots as he squeezed tighter on her airway. "Fourth…away…esc-" she choked as the Source's claw tightened even more, completely blocking air and he lifted her higher so that her feet were dangling inches off the ground.

The Source was beside himself with fury. "You never told me one had escaped! What use have I with three of the four? They are no good to me without their Power of Four!" He growled into Lynxe's purpling face, then threw her away from him. Lynxe flew eight feet through the air and dropped to the ground in a heap, coughing and spluttering, struggling to breathe.

"If you have a problem, demon, you shall take it up with me, and not my second-in-command!"

The Source spun around sharply as this new voice spoke and was faced with a sight far more terrifying than any he had seen before. A cloaked figure stood in front of him, but this was no demon. There was no way to tell what kind of creature stood before him. Try as he might, the Source could not focus on a solid form, because it seemed that this terror was an allusion, a mere tremor in the air that nevertheless revealed that there was, indeed, a meaning of fear. The Source enjoyed watching others cower in fear in front of him, and shivering at his name. But now, this new emotion rolled over him for the first time, and the Source regretted teaming with a more powerful being than himself for the first time in his existence.

A cold, hard chuckle omitted from the figure's throat, causing the Source to shiver uncontrollably as if doused with water. "I'm sure you've never seen anyone quite like me before, demon. Am I right?" The Source said nothing, fighting to gain back his dignity, but he was not succeeding very well. "To stem your anger, I shall tell you now that, yes indeed, there are only three Magicked Ones. Never fear. The remaining one shall be here soon. She shall come to us."

"She will come to us," hissed the Source, finding his voice. "You expect me to believe that the fourth witch will come to us…willingly?"

"Willingly." The figure repeated. "Searching for her sisters, of course. Her sisters: the bait. There is nothing more powerful than the love and the bond between sisters, and that is something you should know. Despite the danger she puts herself in, the witch will try to save them." He waved a claw at the three unconscious Millers as he spoke. "One, however, shall be the main bait, tortured until the youngest comes to save her. The other two shall watch, under an invisibility spell, in the same room. Watch as their sisters are painfully reunited. Then I…we…take their powers and destroy them. After the Magicked Ones, the Charmed Ones shall be easy. But we cannot kill the Magicked Ones until they are together, or their powers will bond together into one to become more powerful than the four combined. We must kill them all together, preferably slowly and most painfully. Only then can we succeed! Are you with me? Will you be loyal? You will be most rewarded."

The Source could hardly contain himself. The Magicked Ones' powers inside of him! Good destroyed forever! Evil would rule for eons! Forever! But most importantly, he could seek revenge on his enemies the Charmed Ones. No longer would he have to dodge their attacks, nor waste his good demons trying to destroy them himself. The opportunity was too good to miss.

"My demons are at your service. I'm with you," the Source said, keeping his voice steady and inclining his head slightly to show his agreement.

"Good. You will not be disappointed. Now, we must prepare for company, my friend. The Magicked One and the Charmed Ones will be arriving shortly." Zoltof turned to Lynxe and commanded, "Post sentries surrounding the cave, but leave the witches alone and unguarded. They are not to be harmed by anyone but yourself, and that is only when I say," he hissed, turning his head towards his second in command.

"I shall obey, Master," Lynxe murmured, bowing.

"Now. We need to use one of the witches as bait." Zoltof turned to the Source. "Which sister is the Stubborn One most attached to?"

The Source pondered the question. He knew about the Charmed Ones' intimate lives because he had been at constant war with them for the past two years. But the Magicked Ones were different. He didn't know much about them. However, he had encountered them twice, and knew a little. Besides, the Magicked Ones were not so much different from the Charmed Ones anyway. At least, not in a family sense. "The Responsible One, Heather. Being the eldest, she is the one everyone turns to when they are in need. Besides, Heather has raised Lucy since Lucy was quite young, so naturally they would be close."

A low chuckle issued again from Zoltof's throat. "Good. Good. I gathered that as well." He motioned towards the unconscious Millers on the ground. Heather's limp form was released from its chains, raised into the air as if being lifted by invisible arms, then floated to Zoltof. With his other hand the creature conjured a stone table into the cave and magically lay Heather upon it. Chords sprang up from under the table and threw themselves across Heather's chest, torso, and legs, strapping her tightly to the stone.

"Now, how to produce enough pain to attract her sister to her." Zoltof paced slightly, thinking. "I've used electrocution with the Compassionate One which is quite painful and was most enjoyable to watch. I liked watching the witch scream in pain, but gets dull after excessive use. And we've used forcible drowning with the Quiet One, pleasurable to watch, I must admit."

"Why not implant a premonition into the other witch's head?" The Source offered, slyly.

Lynxe laughed abruptly. "Only a witch with powers of premonition can see into the future."

But Zoltof pondered what the Source had said. "They haven't come across my power yet. I am strong enough to put a vision into her head, I'm sure of it. But what to send? Do I show her sister suddenly dying? Or a lengthy death? Do I show her other sisters screaming while they watch her cease to live? Do I press the action upon them in reality as well as in the vision?" He laughed suddenly, a sound that made the Source's stone heart shudder. "So many decisions are based on three pitiful witches. Why not just play with them before they die?" He crossed to Heather's form and ran a clawed hand down her front, savoring the feel of youthful femininity. Suddenly, he waved his hands and the woman's bonds disappeared. Another wave summoned a jet of water that splashed over Heather's face. He grinned as she moaned and moved slightly. "Wake them up!" He snapped at Lynxe, pointing to the remaining two Magicked Ones.

Going to the witches, Lynxe began slapping their faces to bring them around, and as they began to move, Zoltof turned to the Source. "We'll let this one go," he said, nodding toward Heather.

"What?" The Source was dumbfounded. "She is the most powerful. If you let her go-"

"-she will be more enjoyable to play with. She'll fight until her sister comes, yes, and suffer all the pain of my attacks. She is nothing compared to my powers. She will not go far. I'm becoming inpatient with the escaped witch. She is taking too long to come, and that is costing her sisters their lives. But just to make things interesting, I'll send her a premonition of her sister being tortured, beaten…raped…surely that will bring her faster. Who knows? Maybe her premonition will come true!" Zoltof began to laugh, stroking Heather's hair gently, ignoring her weak curses. His hysterical, uncontrolled laughter echoed around the cavern now and his eyes blazed with fire as he constructed a premonition to implant into Lucy's head. The witch would come! And when she did, she was as good as dead!


	18. Maybe we Should go Back”

Kings Lioness: Thanks for your review, Laur!

Patricia L. Bryans: Well, you won't be disappointed. This premonition is particularly detailed. You'll like it, I think. Sorry if it gets too graphic…

Oni-Gil: Yep. Now you have draw another!

chuckles1414: Thank you, as usual, for your review!

Aussie-Soccerfreak4: Thanks, mate! That really means a lot! You are such a great pal! Aussies rock!

A/N: This is the chapter that makes this story "T" rated. I beg of you all: if you do not like graphic and you do not like rape and assault, please do not read the italicized bit of this chapter. Even if you don't read it, the regular print will tell the basic of what happened. Just a warning. And remember, it is a premonition. Whether it comes true or not you'll have to find out…

-17-

_Heather was screaming. Lying on an alter, she was convulsing as electricity spread through her veins like it had for Samantha, the sound of her screams blasting and echoing everywhere. Her arms and legs strained at the ropes binding her, and they sliced into her skin as she jerked even more so than before. Her body constricted against her chains as the energy mercilessly entered her body, a slow killer. As her back arched in pain, she screamed louder and with more urgency as her body protested. _

_"Lucy!" _

_Heather's mouth formed her sister's name urgently. Her face was streaking with sweat and dirt, pleadingly, fighting to have someone, one person, hear her and come to her rescue. Blood began to trickle down her ankles and wrists from cuts that the thin ropes inflicted and mingled with the grime on the stone on which she was held._

_All at once, the electricity and the screaming stopped. She lay on the ground now, shaking, her skin smoking from the voltage she had experienced. She was gasping, fighting to breathe, to get her strength, but unable to choke back sobs of pain and hopelessness._

_Another sound…a laugh…cold, cruel, menacing, unlike anything heard ever before. A figure approached the fallen woman slowly and deliberately basking in her pain and discomfort. When he reached her, he got to his knees beside her and forced her roughly on her back with huge claws. The tattered clothing was ripped from Heather's frame and waist as her arms and legs were restrained by chains. A pair of heavy, blackened hands then roamed her body, fondling her mature breasts, twisting fingers in her head of long, flowing hair that was now being disheveled and mussed hungrily. The figure bent close to the woman and kissed her chest slowly, over and over, his body pressing down on her, pressure causing her lungs to compact. Then he slowly licked the base of her neck and moved his tongue up, up, up past her chin and continued to her ear, which it then sucked and nibbled, but not lightly or lovingly at all. _

_Heather screamed again, sobbing the names of her sisters, fighting with all her strength to dislodge the figure from her, but she was powerless against him. A rough, huge body lowered itself towards her, shadowy and dark. She couldn't stop him, couldn't stop screaming, pleading, praying. He forced itself onto her naked, shaking body, and tore into her with angry and furious passion. He moved and jerked and squirmed in her, biting her neck and chewing her chin and throat and chest, oblivious to her frantic moans. Pain, more pain than she had ever felt before…heat…screaming…burning…"LUCY!"_

"HEATHER!" Lucy yelled her sister's name as she started back into reality at the same time she heard her name screamed. Her eyes opened to see that she was kneeling on the ground, knees digging into stony dirt, her hands gripping her hair, sweat dripping from her face onto her blue shirt, pooling and damp. What she had seen had been so real. It had to be true. It was so vivid. She could feel the heat steaming around her sister and her attacker, could feel the churning dirt beneath them as Heather fought and the figure gloried, heard the sucks and the gasps and the moans, tasted the blood, the sweat, the fear.

The Charmed Ones stood around their charge, not knowing what to do or what to say, shocked into silence. Phoebe had warned her sisters not to touch the woman, who had gotten another premonition as they were being transported to the Underworld. Now, down in a dark, dank cave somewhere in the Underworld, they had been glancing around them nervously as soon as their feet touched dirt, until Lucy had screamed Heather's name, still standing, Phoebe's hand was still on her shoulder, and Phoebe herself seemed not to be affected by the premonition. As Lucy staggered sideways and fell, jerking out of her premonition, Phoebe dropped to her knees to catch her, supporting the younger woman with her own body. Piper, Prue, and Paige, who all seemed anxious, but also felt a stab of helplessness and worry, stood guarding the two within an enclosed circle, though they did not know what against.

Lucy felt Phoebe's familiar body press against hers and allowed herself collapse, dissolving into hysterics and as she did, she clutched her heart and pulled closer to the Charmed One, burying her head in Phoebe's chest, shaking uncontrollably. Phoebe didn't know what to do, so she acted on her instinct and held Lucy tightly to herself, rocking her back and forth, ignorant and slightly afraid to what the woman had witnessed. For a long minute, the only sound was Lucy's muffled sobs. Finally Piper broke the silence, feeling that they should be pressing on, though she respected what Lucy was experiencing. "Lucy. Are we in danger here? What did you just see?"

The younger woman did not answer at first. Her mind was buzzing with what she had seen, but otherwise numb with the pain of her sister, her ears screaming with Heather's pleas. "H-Heather," she choked. "No, please…Heather!" She looked up with terror-stricken eyes, but it didn't look as if she saw the Charmed Ones around her at all. "No! Heather…we have to go….we have to save her. I s-saw her…my…my sisters….have to be w-with her."

Prue looked at her sisters, as Phoebe silently pleaded for help. Slowly, she turned back to Lucy, trying to calm her down to tell them what had happened. "Lucy," she said, quietly, folding the trembling woman in her strong arms comfortingly, trying to be a solid presence for Lucy to speak to and trust. "You need to tell us what you saw. We can help you. We can protect you."

Slowly, Lucy's sobs subsided, hiccoughing into the passageways leading for the cavern. The other women tried to wait patiently, Piper still glancing around uncertainly. Then Lucy spoke, her monotone voice penetrating into their minds with the horrors she described. "S-she was being electrocuted…t-tortured for information…about me. She was…sc-screaming my…my name." A whimper escaped her lips, but she controlled herself enough to continue. "Then, she was on the ground and a demon…or something…a…" The pain was too much. It was almost as if Lucy herself could feel what her eldest sister went through. "The demon…he…he raped…" Unable to speak anymore, she dissolved into tears again. She let them come this time.

When Lucy had finally narrated what she had seen happen, Phoebe looked up quickly at her sisters, her eyes clouding with fear. She realized that demons were evil, but so horrible as to use a human for its amusement? Its plaything? She had never heard of a demon doing that ever before, and her eyes narrated that to her. Prue had put her hand to her mouth in shock and was unable to hold back a gasp. Paige comforted her, an arm around Prue's shoulders warmly, but she was quivering. Even after just meeting her sisters, Paige could not any of them taken advantage of and was stunning. She drew her sister closer to her as Phoebe did the same to Lucy.

But Piper was still looking around. Had something just moved in that shadow across the room? No, it couldn't have been anything. Her eyes were just…she turned her head back to her sisters but then she could have sworn something had just flickered to her right. Squinting into the darkness, she could see nothing. She was just about to look at Lucy when there it was again. Or was that different? It was to her left this time. She needed a second opinion, that's for sure. "Prue," she whispered toward her sister.

"Piper, not a good time," Prue hissed incredulously with a glance at Lucy.

Again, Piper's quick eyes caught sight of movement. This time, she knew something had moved in the shadows. "But Prue," she whispered, louder and more urgently. "Something's-"

A fireball hurtled abruptly out of the air towards the Charmed Ones, cutting off Piper's words, but her reflexes saved her life. She dodged quickly out of the way, but didn't escape a glance off her shoulder from the flame. She cried out in pain as the demon responsible materialized from the shadows. Prue, who had seen what had happened, quickly disentangled herself from Paige calling out, "Phoebe! Lucy! Demon!"

"Two!" Cried Piper, gripping her arm painfully, trying to watch the demon but examine her shoulder at the same time.

"No, three," Lucy corrected, her face red and puffy from crying, but her eyes intense with hate. She was right. Three demons closed in on the five witches; huge, powerful, grotesque demons, each holding up thin rods. Pandamonium broke out and with the women yelling, the demons roaring, energy balls being formed, a dull roar echoed in everyone's ears. Piper threw up her hands and flicked her wrists, but her combustion power only made the demon advancing on her jerk slightly from the blow, his cloak burned only a small bit. Phoebe and Lucy were on their feet at last, back to back. Prue and Paige were facing another demon between them. It grinned menacingly and slowly formed another fireball in his palm, savoring the moment.

"Look out!" Paige yelled as it shot towards them. The girls ducked out of the way. Prue hit the ground as Paige disappeared in a flurry of white. The energy ball hissed through the air right where Paige had been a second before, and Paige reappeared in the same spot a split second later, looking frightened but quite unharmed.

"Paige! Use your powers to deflect the fire!" Prue yelled over the noise. The third demon threw an energy ball at the hard-eyed, eldest witch, but she thrust her hand up, palm out, and the sphere ricocheted off her powers and back into he demon, who roared in pain as his own weapon hit him in the chest. Flame leapt up and around him and with a final scream, the demon erupted into particles of fire and was gone. Prue took a breath of relief.

"I don't know how!" Paige dodged another energy ball, her mind clouded with fear.

"It's just like summoning something! Direct your powers with your hand and send the balls back at them!" Phoebe shouted into the melee, exchanging punches with a demon. She landed one on the side of his shoulder, but instead of him falling like she had intended him to do, he growled at her with a light of hatred burning in his green eyes. The next time Phoebe swung her leg up to kick the demon in the chest, it seized her foot and twisted it, throwing the witch off balance and flying away from him.

"Phoebe!" Piper shrieked as her sister hit the stone wall with a smack and slid down it, unconscious.

"Augh! Fireball!" Paige panicked when the demon hurled a fireball at her instead, and she held out her hand, as if letting it come to her then, without thinking and just as the ball dissolved into white lights, she jerked her hand in the direction of the demon who threw Phoebe and sent the fireball back to its thrower. The demon was just as surprised as Paige as he watched the flames consuming him, dumbfounded. "Wow," Paige said, after the demon had exploded. "That was cool."

Piper was flicking her hands repeatedly at the remaining demon, continuously knocking him off balance as she tried to destroy him. Time after time, a small burn appeared on the demon's cloak and it jerked, but still it did not vanquish. Her powers were not nearly strong enough for her to kill him by herself.

"Your attempts are futile, witch!" The demon barked, unleashing yet another sizzling energy ball at her. This time when her hands went up the energy ball froze, but the demon simply shook off the freeze, which was aimed for him as well and continued to move towards her, speeding up with each step.

"Prue!"

"Piper!" Prue yelled her sisters name just as Prue shouted her own and waved her hand. Time seemed to stand still. The demon was almost on Piper when the energy ball broke from its spell and swerved, propelled by Prue's powers, to catch the demon in the chest, and he disappeared in a wave of fire and bellows.

As the smoke and stench cleared, Prue blinked and looked around. Piper had fallen to her hands and knees, exhausted after the effort of battling the demon. Lucy and Paige were at Phoebe's side, shaking her and calling her name repeatedly, trying to wake her up.

A hand touched Piper's shoulder and Prue knelt next to her. "Are you alright?" She asked, but she saw in her sister's eyes that she was hurting. A quick glance at Piper's shoulder caused Prue to wretch. Bloody and burned folds of skin surrounded a smoldering burn that glistened with blood, the result of the fireball that Piper had fallen victim to. How her sister had stayed conscious through the pain was a mystery to Prue. "Oh my god, Piper," Prue whispered, fumbling for her shirt. She wrenched a strip of fabric from the hem of it and used it to bind her sister's arm, gently but tightly. Piper closed her eyes in silent pain, her teeth gritting together roughly, but she did not make a noise as the cloth touched raw flesh.

"We barely lived through three demons, Prue," Piper finally said, whispering to her sister, trying to hold back tears. "Three." She looked into Prue's deep brown eyes, searching for an explanation. "There were five of us, and the Power of Three plus Paige and Lucy!" Prue knew everything, and she would surely know how to get out of this all and how to save the Magicked Ones.

Prue watched her sister's eyes fill with tears and pulled her close, trying to be soothing. Piper leaned her head on Prue's shoulder and Prue brought her hand up to stroke he sister's hair comfortingly. "You will survive, Piper. I'll make sure of that. I'm not loosing you like we lost Mom and Grams. I promise."

Lucy watched the eldest Halliwell comfort Piper, fighting the fear in her own heart as she looked at two of her rescuers and saviors, now reduced to tears and on all fours. "Maybe we should go back," she murmured, mainly to herself, but Paige was right next to her, and heard.

Paige lifted her head slightly as she supported Phoebe in her return to consciousness. She hadn't heard what the Miller had said. "What?"

"Maybe they're already dead."

"Lucy!" Exclaimed Paige, shocked. She couldn't believe it. Her charge, so strong and steadfast in everything she had heard about them so far, was giving up.

The Magicked One stared at her trembling hands and clenched them tightly, feeling completely useless and powerless. "We shouldn't be here. I shouldn't be risking our lives like this. It's not fair for all of you. You all have family and lives to think about. There's probably no hope for my sisters, anyway," she said, her voice breaking with inevitability.

"Stop, Lucy." Phoebe finally had woken up and was watching the woman in Paige's arms. With quick, graceful fingers, Phoebe reached over and brushed tears from Lucy's smooth cheeks. "You did not force us to help you. It is our job and our destiny. Lucy listen to me. We can't leave you or your sisters to die. We won't. They are not dead and they will not be. We will find them and save them."

"Phoebe's right," Piper said, roughly as she and Prue approached them, dried tears on her face mingling with the sweat. "You can't talk like that. You have to keep believing that your sisters are alive."

Prue pulled Phoebe to her feet and slung a supporting arm cross her shoulders, then helped Paige stand with her free hand. "Come on," she said. "We're still alive. That means we keep going, no matter what. We need you to sense your sisters, Lucy."

"Sense?" Lucy repeated, grasping Piper's outstretched hand and climbing to her feet. "I'm not a whitelighter."

Prue shook her head. "You don't need to be…at least, I don't think so. Besides, you can orb. You have at least a bit of angel blood in you anyway. Just focus on them. Clear your mind. Search for them with your heart."

Lucy obeyed. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. As she exhaled, she pushed all thoughts, fears, pains, and worries from her mind, leaving it clear and even somewhat peaceful. The sound of the Halliwell sisters breathing beside her blasted in her ears. She pushed them behind her. Then, it felt like she was rushing through the caves at a speed that was astounding to her, but didn't hurt. The sound of wind flowing freely, like she was in the clouds, a drip of mucky water fell from the ceiling. The squeak of a bat; then, her heart wrenched, but not painfully. She knew that feeling. A soft groan, baleful eyes opinion to see rock, golden shimmers everywhere, surrounding a mass of dark…

"Heather." Lucy opened her eyes and turned towards the passage to her right. "I found them." She pointed a trembling hand down into the darkness. "That way. They were taken that way and they're less than a mile away."

The Charmed Ones looked at each other, slightly surprised that Lucy could do that, then Pure took charge and stepped across the cave. "Come on. It's now or never." She broke into a brisk jog down the corridor. The others followed, hurrying to catch up, hurrying towards their clouded fate, determination banishing all other emotion from their faces, which reflected flickering torch light and shadows from the fire burning in brackets on the cold stone wall.


	19. A Final Trap is Laid

Oni-Gil: You are a much better drawer than you make yourself out to be. Just take it one at a time and you can do it! Thanks for reading!

Kings Lioness: All my stories aren't graphic I hope. But I'm glad you were ok with it. You were one of the readers I was slightly concerned about, as well as my own sister. Well, thanks for contiuing to read! Glad you like it!

Patricia L. Bryans: I have watched X-Files. I don't watch it as much as I used to, but then, I've only actually seen a few episodes, and you're right. It can get pretty graphic. But that doesn't stop it from being a good show! I had fun with the fight scene and with Paige learning a new aspect of her powers.

Chuckles1414: Oh, I hope my writing didn't give you nightmares! But that's kinda cool on the author's aspect of it...yay! I'm glad you enjoy it and thanks so much for your praise.

Aussie-Soccerfreak4: I'm glad you continue to enjoy this story as well, mate! I try to write suspensfully because I think that's some of the best writing and author can. Leaving the readers in suspense is so joyful! Thanks for reading, cobber!

Dr. Magic PhD: It means so much to me when I get a new reader to review my story! I'm so thankful that you've been following my story and glad that you have finally caught up! I apologize for the wait! There's been a lot going on around the home! Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!

A/N: Sorry for the wait! There has been a lot going on at my house, and I've not had time to update until now! One of my favoite chapters! Now the action kicks in!

-19-

Sam and Kate were bound to separate, hard-backed wooden chairs against the wall of the cave, the chords wrapped around their arms and legs cutting into their bare flesh. They were doused in a shadow from the massive wall, making it difficult for outsiders to see them, but they could see out. As they were brought to the cavern and tied up, the women were unconcisous, but now, as demons around them muttered among themselves, the two witches began to stir.

It was quite a fright to both when they first opened their eyes to see the demons surrounding them, but soon realized that these demons could do nothing to them. Yes. As soon as Kate began to gain control of her wandering and foggy mind and was aware of both her phyiscal pain and her surroundings, she blinked a few times, trying desperatly to clear a pounding headache, then turned her head towards her younger sister beside her and winced at what she saw. Sam's once beautifully brown and full face was now pale, thin and shining with sweat and a shallow gash on her forehead shone crimson in the weak torchlight. Her eyes were closed and she was still, but Kate could see her chest rising and falling sharply as Sam breathed, though her breaths were harsh and ragged.

"Sam!" Kate whispered, calling to her sister softly. There was no reply. "Sam!" She repeated. She saw Sam's eyelids flicker and Sam moaned slightly in response. "Are you okay?" Kate whispered to her sister but knowing the answer, concern shadowing her face, her forehead wrinkled.

Sam's eyelids flickered again and she slowly opened her eyes. Though the light in the cave was slight, Sam's eyes narrowed painfully, used to the pitch darkness of unconciousness. She did not turn her head to respond after finding that she was not able to without a sharp pain stabbing down her spine, but her eyes moved and she looked over at her sister through half-closed lids. "Now I am," she breathed sharply, trying to smile, but she was too weak and twitched in pain as her muscles protested. "Lucy?" She managed to ask.

"Safe, I guess," Kate replied, hoping against hope that she was speaking the truth. Something nagged at her heart when she thought of her youngest sister in the hands of demons, but she tried to conceal it. "She's not here, anyway," Kate continued with a sigh. "I really hope she's alive."

"Me too," Sam whispered gently. Each word that she spoke hurt. She was breathing irregularly after her experience with Lynxe, which she did not remember, and each time she inhaled her chest seared with pain. She hissed slightly as her ribs protested a deeper breath.

Kate saw her sister's discomfort. "What did they do to you, Sammie?" She moaned, tears springing to her eyes. She had not seen any of her sisters until now, and the sight that greeted her was not a good one. "I wish I could hold you right now. I wish I could help-"

"Kate, stop," Sam said, trying shaking her head slowly, but it was too painful so she stopped and hoped the tone of voice was enough to reassure her elder sister. "There's nothing you can do right now."

"She's right, you know." Lynxe had approached the imprisoned witches without them seeing her, with a bounce in her gait and a sparkle in her eye that niether had seen before. "There's nothing you can do. You're helpless, dying, and you have no one to help you, and nothing to do but watch your oldest sister suffer. We've made sure that you will see it all. You all have not been helpful whatsoever, and we've made sure that each of your sister's screams will make up for that. Hopefully, your youngest sister, Lucy, will come to save the day. That's our plan, anyway. We can't do anythign really exciting until we have all four of you together. As soon as she gets here, the real fun will begin!" She laughed in her heartless way, gleefully watching the Magicked Ones' expressions.

Unable to control herself, Kate fought her bonds as hard as she could, ignoring the chords that dug further into her wrists and causing her to bleed. "I swear, demon! You lay a hand on my sister and I'll-"

"You'll what?" The demon interrupted, swooping down upon Kate and leaning down so that their noses were inches apart. "You'll use your powers?" Kate was silent. She couldn't use her powers...she didn't think she could. "Think again, witch," Lynxe continued. "You haven't been able to use your powers in the Underworld yet, and I doubt you'll be able to at all. Our powers are much too strong for a single, pathetic witch to break through! We've made sure of that."

Hatred like nothing she had ever felt welled inside Kate's heart. Never before had Sam seen Kate like this. Kate had never been angry or had ever snapped at anyone, let alone challenge someone. She was out of control, livid with the threats of her sisters being hurt. Using the hatred inside her and squinting her eyes, Kate forced her telekinetic powers upon the demon like a powerful wave and sent the demon flying away from her. Lynxe was once again humiliated by the Magicked One as she flew through the air, her robes flapping and slammed into the ground a few yards away. "Think again, bitch," Kate snapped, managing a mocking grin.

With a snarl, Lynxe leapt at the prisoner, but Zoltof, who had remained in another part of the cave before now, stepped forward and motioned to two of his demons, who sprang forward and restrained the furious woman at once. Lynxe clawed at the demon's bodies, trying to rip free to get to Kate, her eyes blazing with anger and fury, but they held her tightly as she shrieked, "Unhand me and let me kill that impudent witch!"

Kate laughed, seething. "Go ahead. Let her go. I'll fight her even with my hands bound! Nothing a coward like you can't handle!" Sam couldn't believe what she was hearing. It was surprising enough for her sister to be talking to these demons, let alone threatening them.

Howling with fury, Lynxe dove at Kate, but she was forced back by the demons holding her. "You foul-" she snarled, struggling to find words as she glowered, livid, gnashing her teeth at the tied woman before her. No one spoke to her like that and lived! In fact, no one had ever spoken to her like that!

"Blindfold that one now!" Zoltof commanded, pointing at Kate. Kate struggled even more so as another demon approached her with a strip of black, mouldy cloth, holding it up anxiouslu. She fought hard as Zoltof's voice rang penetratingly through her ears. "If you are not quiet, I'll gag you as well! Though you will not see your sister, you will hear her screams very clearly as she dies slowly. Yes, and you will join her too if you don't shut it!"

"You can't stop me from hating you, demon!" Kate snarled, straining against the chair as the blindfold was thrust over her eyes. Darkness instantly surrounded her, causing her to see bright colors in her closed eyelids but she could still fight, and fight she did.

"Perhaps not," Zoltof's voice cooed, close to her head, causing her to shudder, and a hand wrapped itself around her throat, startling her still. "But I can certainly kill you. Then you will be dead and won't care about anything anymore. What say you to that?" The clawed hand sqeezed her throat slightly, just enough to cut off some breath, and just enough for a warning.

Kate did not know that she could hold this much anger in her body. Now she did not care about her life. "It'd be better than this!" She hissed, then strained, pressing her own throat tighter against the hand, shocking Zoltof with her nerve. "Go ahead! Kill me! When you do my sisters will be more powerful than you can handle and they will rip you apart for murdering me!"

Apparently, Zoltof had motioned to another demon, because a strip of coarse fabric had forced itself into Kate's mouth and over her tongue, gagging her efficiently. As the hand around her throat released her suddenly, she struggled as more claws fumbled to tie the knot behind her head, trying to gasp out hateful words, but the gag was effective.

"There would be no point in killing you now, witch," muttered Zoltof in Kate's ear, then he turned his eyes on the witch sitting beside Kate.

Samantha could do nothing but sit and watch her sisters' useless struggle with tears rolling down her cheeks silently. She did not speak, nor did she make a noise, saving her energy for what she felt could happen, but she barely held in any of her emotion and her tears betrayed it. She winced as the demon tying the gag finally slung a heavy fist into Kate's abdomen, knocking the wind and the fight from Kate at last, and he finally managed to tie the gag in place. As Kate coughed and spluttered, trying to breathe and spit the gag from her mouth, a shadow fell across Sam's form and she looked up into the red, furious eyes of Zoltof. "You're not going to fight?" He asked her, almost politely.

"I have better things to save my breath for, demon," Sam snapped, suddenly unafraid of the huge evil confronting her.

Zoltof chuckled softly and reached over and gently dragged a sharp talon across her throat as a warning, pressing too softly to draw blood but hard enough so that she got the point. "Like what? A rescue? An escape? I can assure you, we have mad the necessary precautions and will not let that happen. You will not leave this cavern alive, I promise you that," he said, laughing. "You might as well sit quietly and wait to die."

Sam jerked her head away from the demon's touch, seething and revolted. "You underestimate our powers."

"Perhaps," agreed the demon, starting to walk away. He stopped and looked over his shoulder at her, winking slyly. "But think on this: if I underestimate you, why have you not escaped from me yet?"

For once, Sam did not have an answer. She closed her mouth at last. It was true. She and her two sisters had not escaped. But then again, they didn't have the Power of Four. They didn't have their full strength. Even wihtout it they had survived this much. Sam didn't say anything else as she watched the huge demon approach Heather, who she saw was now tied to a pole, similar to Sam's encounter with Lynxe, but this time Heather was standing and her arms were tied behind her back instead of above her head, her face pale. Sam had not seen Heather either since the manor and finally saw her. Heather had been watching everything with damp cheeks. Her throat was bruised and slightly cut from her torture, and it seemed she had been having trouble breathing. But now she stood steadfast, trying to look strong.

Zoltof laughted as he reached her. "So now we meet the eldest Magicked One. Heather, isn't it?" Heather did not speak. "The Elders call you the Responsible One. Responsible of what? Your family?" Zoltof bowed to her mockingly, his hand twirling outrageously. "And what a grand job of it you do. Why, just look at your sisters," he offered, pointing across the cave. Heather did not obey, but instead, she stared Zoltof straight in the eye. Controlling his temper, Zoltof leaned closer and demanded again, "Look at your sisters!" Resigning, finally, Heather did.

She looked upon her younger sister struggling madly with her bonds, trying to shout out and scream and yell, but each of her words were made indistinguishable from the gag biting into her cheeks. As she watched Kate struggle for air, tears sprang unbidden to Heather's eyes. What had she done that made Kate be treated like this?

Then, Sam's eyes met her own. Sam stared into Heather's heart it seemed, her intensity frightening Heather. Sam was so strong. She would not reveal anything, not even when faced with death. It was then that Heather realized that she had not seen any of her sisters until this moment since Lynxe had attacked them at their home. Each of them had been unconscious since then, taken separatly for questioning, then being returned, barley alive, result of Lynxe's torture. But Lucy was gone. She wasn't here. Lucy. Heather had been exasperated with her sister for not making time to consult the Book of Shadows before the attack. What had she had to do? She had a meeting with her college literature professor. But really, what would have changed if Lucy had gone to check the Book? She probably would have been here now, weak almost to death, hopeless. Or, they would all be dead by now. But where was she now? Heather's heart wrenched. She couldn't already be…no, she would have sensed it. And Zoltof didn't want any of them dead. Where could she be, though, if Zoltof hadn't ordered her killed? If she had, in fact, been killed happened, then why had the rest of her family been tortured for information about Lucy? Did this mean...was she still alive?

While staring into Sam's eyes and thinking about Lucy, reality hit her hard: Heather had let her family fall victim to the most powerful demons in the world and she could do nothing to help them now. It would be her fault if her sisters were murdered. She had not protected them well enough.

"You see the result of your care, Heather?" The words slid slyly though Heather's ears, as if the voice had been hissed right beside her head. She did not blink, nor did she move, the words sinking into her brain. "Do you see how safe they are now?"

"Heather, don't listen to him!" Sam yelled to her sister, suddenly hearing everything the demon was telling Heather. He was provoking her, killing her with her own guilt.

Zoltof moved closer to his captor, putting his mouth next to her ear, blocking out Sam's voice so the woman could only hear him. She stared straight into Sam's eyes as he whispered, "You couldn't save your parents from death, or your baby sister Lucy. And now, your other two sisters are suffering and dying, and beyond your reach of help. You've failed them. You promised to protect them, and you failed."

Sam didn't know that she was struggling now, her arms working furiously to loosen her bonds from around her body, but to no avail. She looked at Heather's stony face and watched a single tear trickle down her smooth cheek, taking some of the dirt that caked her body with it. Heather's eyes, the chocolate wisdom in her eyes had now faded and they stared into Sam without seeing her, seeing only her own treterous soul. "No!" Sam yelled, fighting to break the spell that seemed to be wrapping itslef around Heather's heart. "Heather, what are you doing? Look at me! Look at me! I'm alive! It's not your fault! None of this is!" It was then that a heavy hand flung itself over Sam's mouth, stifling her cries so that Heather could only hear Zoltof's poisonous voice.

"It's your fault," Zoltof whispered, his claws silently slicing the chords holding Heather in place, but she did not realize what he was doing. Her eyes were blank and staring, picturing Kate on the floor, blood spurting from a deadly wound to her stomach, picturing Sam's eyes which were clouded over in death, blood streaming from the corners, and blossoming from her mouth. Her mind was filled with thoughts of Lucy dying a bloody death as she was stabbed once, twice, three times by an athamae, and all because of her. She had let her family down. _No! Don't kill them, please! Kill me! No!_

"It's all your fault," rang the voice in her head. It sounded so convincing, so sure of itself. It told the truth. "Everything is your fault and no one else's! The Protector of the Magicked Ones has failed!"

"NO!" Heather cried, dropping to her knees as her bonds fell away from her. She fell to the ground, her hands covering her face and sobbed into them, ignoring the dust that was caked on her. Her heart and soul were consumed by guilt and the grief of seeing her sisters lying dead on the ground. She was held captive by pain in her heart as she wept bitterly, unable to do anthing.

Zoltof laughed as he watched, then stepped carelessly over Heather's shaking form and headed towards Sam. The eldest witch was useless now, powerless, wallowing in her own pitiful grief. Her sister would prove to be easier to break now that she witnessed her sister's fall. But why even keep any of them alive anymore? The fun of torture had worn off. Couldn't an athamae collect the powers of at least one witch and store them until all four were here? As long as the other three powers did not overload the magic…but he needed to satisfy his lust to kill. He had a thirst now for death, and he needed to stem it before he went mad with passion. Besides, the eldest could watch, and to watch her sister bleed to death would confirm her fears and prove her guilt. Oh, this was going to be easy! A slight wave of his hand magically produced an athamae from the air, spelled and ready to use.

As Zoltof approached Sam, his cloak swinging off his shoulders and onto the sand, he watched Sam struggle uselessly against the ropes holding her and the demon's hand over her mouth, fear clouding her eyes. Jerking her head, she tried to dislodge the hand still covering her mouth, but no use. The witch couldn't avoid his touch, but she cringed anyway as Zoltof's hand closed around her throat and pushed her head back out of the way. The hand over her mouth vanished, but it grabbed at her hair instantly and held her head back. All the breath in her body was caught in her throat as Zoltof's other claw tore the collar of her pale red blouse open, revealing her heaving, unprotected chest, a wide target that wasimpossible to miss. Grinning triumphantly, he raised the athamae. "Long live the Magicked Ones!" Zoltof howled.

A brief jolt of pain shook yhe back of Zoltof's shoulder suddenly, jerking him firmly but slightly and breaking his concentration on Sam. "Take me!" A hard voice commanded, unlike any he had heard. Furious, the demon swung around to see Heather standing defiantly in front of him, ten yards away, her eyes like stone and her hands upraised. When his jaw dropped noislessly, she flicked her wrists and Zoltof shuddered again. He looked down at his tunic, where a small burn had appeared. Heather's power was no match with his own, but she was angry now, and anger made her stronger.

"What?" Zoltof snapped, angrily, staring disbelieving at the witch who, moments before, had been writing on the ground in pitiful tears.

"Take me instead," Heather repeated, her eyes dry.

The demon could not believe it. It took a few seocnds for his mind to finally start functioning again. He motioned furiously to Lynxe, who was instantly released from the demons and she scampered over and took over from demon holding Sam's hair, forcing it back farther, smiling wickedly at Sam's hiss of pain. She was intent on making this witch feel pain after what her sister had done. Zoltof was able to turn his entire attention to the eldest witch now. "You!" He barked with laughter now shaking his body. "Why should I take you?" He sneered, eying her distatefully.

Heather's chin raised. She didn't think at all. Her anger towards the demon bubbled. When Zoltof had approached Sam with the knife, Heather's vision of her dead sisters vanished all at once and then, quite suddenly, all she could see was Sam struggling as the knife raised. All the guilt in her was instead replaced by white-hot fury immediately, and she had stood abruptly to face Zoltof's back. Now, she glared at him, looking straight into his evil eyes. "Because," she replied, her voice carrying no tremor of doubt. "I am your key to gaining the Power of Four. I am the eldest, the most powerful, and the core of the family."

"But you're not. The Quiet One is the core. Perhaps, though, I should kill her?" Zoltof offered, his teeth bared, but when he moved towards Kate, Heather sent more power towards him, a larger and stronger blast this time, but again, making only a mark on his tunic.

"Get away from her, you bastard," she whispered audibly, anger coursing through her veins now after seeing another threat to her family. She would not let them down. "Why won't you face me? Afraid to be defeated by a…what was it? A _powerless_ witch?" Her wrists flicked again and an even stronger burst of power shot from her hands and into Zoltof, who's eyes blazed with fury.

"Get out of it, witch!" He snarled, giving in to his hate at last. "You know you cannot defeat me!" He threw out his arm, palm outstretched, and sent a blast of green electricity shooting out of his palm and towards Heather. It struck her in the chest and sent her flying into the cave wall painfully.

"Heather!" Sam screamed, trying to watch her sister slide to the ground in a limp heap, but any of her further cries were sharply cut off by Lynxe's tugging at her hair.

"Shut it, witch," Lynxe hissed venemously.

The cruel laughter echoed around the cavern again as Zoltof stalked across to the fallen witch. Heather twisted in pain on the ground, then heard the demon stop in front of her. Fighting, gasping, she tried to stop the pain careening through her veins so she could stand and face him. "Pitiful," Zoltof sniffed, staring down his nose at Heater. "I'm actually surprised that you even left a mark on me. But believe me, my powers will leave a mark!" He aimed his palm at the woman and again she was hit with the green energy, and this time she was blasted off her feet and into the next nearest wall, which she crashed into, cracking her head on it. Howling with glee, Zoltof again approached Heather, who had meraculously remained concisous and now writhed on the ground clutching her chest, breaths coming out of her lungs in sharp gasps. "Prepare to die, witch!" He snarled into her face.

Now, he closed his hand, curling his fingers as if clutching an invisible boulder and quite suddenly Heather couldn't breathe. She gasped, startled, her hands instinctively going up to her throat, which was being magically influenced to squeeze her windpipe shut. Zoltof's power was cutting off her life-giving air supply and he wasn't even touching her. Grinning, the demon raised his arm.

Heather gasped and choked, feeling her body beginning to lift from the ground magically. She stared hopelessly at the demon as he watched her frantic movements and continued to lift her farther off the ground until her feet were dangling two feet off the ground, a wide smile breaking across his face suddenly. The witch would die within moments as her lungs shut down, and then her brain. He had won!

Then, just as blackness had darkned her vision and almost impulsively, Heather jerked her hands away from her neck and flicked them towards Zoltof's ugly face wildly. "AUGH!" The demon's flesh blistered burned as the Magicked One's power struck him square in the face. He released his hold on Heather as he grabbed at his face with both hands. She dropped to the ground hard, landing solidly on her hands and stomach, gasping and working to inhale. She had only seconds before Zoltof stopped playing with her and killed her out of anger. As she lay on the ground, she spotted the athamae, which Zoltof had thrown aside when he hit her with the lightening. Her mind worked as fast as it could through the fog that had eveloped her. As her enemy staggered backwards, clutching at his burning flesh, attempting to stop the burning, Heather's breath returned and her mind cleared slowly. It was her only hope, her only chance. The blade Zoltof was going to use on Sam lay in the dust a few yards away. If only she could reach it!

From the other side of the cavern Lynxe was watching everything, and then saw the witch's eyes flash to the dropped athamae and back to Zoltof, and realized what the fallen witch was planning. Releasing Sam's hair at once, the demonic second-in-command flaired suddenly red next to Sam and was vanished.

Heather had finally managed to push herself up and stand and was stumbling, breathless, towards the blade when the red outline of Lynxe flared back and the demon appeared, directly in front of her, holding the knife. Sam finally was able to look ahead of her, but what she saw has terrifying. Everything happened to quickly. Seeing her sister's intentions, she tried to yell a warning to her.

"Heather!" Screamed Sam, but Lynxe had already raised the blade triumphantly howling with glee. "NO!"

And then, staring directly into the eldest Miller's eyes as she tried to stop but kept coming forward, Lynxe took one step to brace herslef, then plunged the blade hilt-deep into Heather's abdomen, just as Lucy and the Charmed Ones sprinted into the cave.


	20. Crimson Sand

Oni-Gil: I was hoping you would say something like that! I kept replaying that music in my head and heard Ewan scream...man he's hot! (ahem) Anyway thanks for continuing to read and enjoy! Thanks for finishing my picture and I can't wait to see you so we can watch ourselves on the big screen, you know...catching fire and forming force-fields and turning invisible and stuff like that...

Patricia L. Bryans: Let's just hope the Charmed Ones can save the day! They don't always, you know! Thanks for reviewing and thanks for begin the one to keep my story going!

Aussie-Soccerfreak4: Well, now that Mia Hamm won the ESPY, life is good. And it's so great to have a friend like you that I can talk to anytime, even if you are "Down Under" and "in the Bush" and "chasing kangaroos" all the time:) Love ya, cobber!

Dr. Magic PhD: Here's what happened with the cliffhanger:

Kings Lioness: I love leaving you guys hanging! It's so entertaining!

Chuckles1414: Thanks so much for your continuous vote of confidence. It was you who told me to write the story for me and not for reviews! I appreciate that so much!

Catreddick4: hehe. Thanks for reviewing and reading! Your words mean so much! Oh, and have I mentioned that CAT REDDICK ROCKS?

A/N: I should just stop writing author's notes cause I really have nothing to say in them. I had an idea, but being blonde (no offense to any other blondes out there!) I forgot already! But that happens at my age...17? Yeah. That's the forgetful time! Anyway, just three words for you: The action continues!

-20-

Nothing escaped from between Heather's lips except for a small noise of surprise and her jaw dropped as she felt the knife slid between her ribs and slice into her insides. Her eyes and face wrinkled with shock and surprise as soon as she knew what was happening, and after she felt the handle touch her skin, which was almost immediately from the power of Lynxe's thrust, she knew the knife was all the way inside of her, and then everything in her body went numb except for the pain. She was still moving forward as hilt met flesh, and finally Heather stumbled against her assailant, one hand slapping to Lynxe's which was holding the knife, the other to the demon's chest, as Heather's legs gave out and she tried to brace herself, as if she would survive that way. As she did so, however, she coughed and gasped, her body held up against the demon's, her eyes staring at the handle protruding from her stomach, then they raised to stare into Lynxe's in the utmost shock.

The moment the blade had cut into Heather's stomach and the Charmed Ones raced into the cave, Piper suddenly cried out and stopped dead in her path before clutching her own stomach and gasping as if it was she who had been stabbed and not Heather. Her breaths had become harsh then, and she whimpered in the pain that had suddenly engulfed her. Stupefied, she managed to look down at her hands as she felt warm liquid fighting to break between them. It was clear that she too had a stab wound that extended all the way inside of her stomach as Heather's did, but no one had touched her, nor come near her.

Heather choked again, swallowing hard, and both of her hands now clasped around Lynxe's wrapped around the hilt protruding from her body. Warm, crimson blood leaked slowly between her fingers and dripped onto the dusty floor as she stared, wide-eyed, into Lynxe's menacingly merciless yellow ones. Watching the woman's expression cruelly, basking in her victim's pain, the demon's mouth twitched in a triumphant smile and she shoved the knife even further into Heather's body, forcing the woman to her knees as she choked again, her eyes squeezing shut now in agony, her heart beating fast. The amount of pressure suddenly put on the knife cased the bottom of the hilt to actually force itself into the wound, causing it to expand even more and gush copies amounts of blood that then dripped down Heather's legs to form a puddle on the floor.

Prue was next to Piper when Piper fell to her knees also, gasping at the same time as Heather, the pain cutting deeper on her insides. She moaned slightly as Heather did the same, choking and swallowing back blood that was rising in her throat all at once. Prue, surprised and not knowing what was going on, watched dumbstruck as blood seeped between Piper's shaking hands and dripped to the floor. "Piper!" She whispered. "No!" She gasped, holding out her arms and catching her sister as she dropped and trying to hold her up, as if she would recover miraculously.

Lucy's vision had tunneled and narrowed when she entered the cave, and she saw nothing but her sister's pain-stricken, white face. "Heather!" She screamed, her lungs protesting. She didn't care about the other demons in the room, nor did she see Zoltof still staggering around, clawing at his face, but only saw her wounded sister and the blood...the blood. Her mind clouded with anguish and the young witch ran forward towards Heather, oblivious to everything but her sister's pain and the demon inflicting it, determined to rescue her.

"Lucy! No!" Paige and Phoebe tore after their charge together, leaving Piper and Prue on the ground, and raced towards Lucy, Heather and Lynxe, trying to catch Lucy and hold her back. They knew that running full steam at this demon was suicide, especially when they were unarmed, and Lynxe held the knife, but they couldn't let their charge face possible death alone. But the reckless Magicked One did not realize how much danger they were all in.

Seeing the three coming towards her and knowing that they were too late to save the eldest Magicked One, Lynxe calmly looked back down into Heather's moist brown eyes and grinned into her face, betraying her absolute glee. The witches were no threat now! "Farewell, witch!" Roughly, gleefully, she twisted the knife inside of Heather, earning herself a satisfying grunt of pain from the witch, and then jerked the athamae from Heather's body, leaving a hideous and wide stab wound. She stood up straight at last, having been bent over as Heather had fallen to her knees, watching her victim with tears of joy in her eyes. Heather grunted harshly once more, wincing unconsciously, feeling her insides rip open and flood with blood, then her eyes unfocused and clouded over, and she collapsed sideways into the sand, her blood staining the ground crimson as it pulsed from her wound with each fading heartbeat. The same time the knife was wrenched from Heather, Piper's body jerked in Prue's arms and as Heather fell, so did Piper collapse further into Prue's outstretched arms, her blood running over her now limp hands and onto Prue's lap. Prue had gotten into a kneeling position with her sister in her arms and tried to hold back sobs as she felt Piper's warm blood run through her shirt.

Upon reaching the demon, Phoebe sprang at Lynxe in a flying kick, catching the her off her guard as she swung around quickly, sensing her and holding up the red-stained athamae. The demon fell to the ground with a screech of fury as Phoebe's foot connected with her chest and she slid across the dirt from the force of it, but still managed to grasp the knife. Alerted at last by his second-in-command's yell, Zoltof managed to squint open one painful eye and he saw the five witches run into the cave again, as if it had not happened yet. "No," he murmured, hands over his face, watching Phoebe kick out, then turning her gaze on Paige, who had engaged in a battle with another demon. "No! This cannot be! They cannot escape! NO!" Then, with a roar of fury and with not thought to his dignity, nor his demons, he vanished from the cavern in a blast of powerful green light, away from harm and unnoticed by anyone but Paige, but she couldn't stare for ever. The demon she fought came at her fiercely again.

Phoebe cried out, alerting Prue, who looked up, her eyes filled with tears and Piper in her lap, bleeding, and just in time to see Phoebe crash into the stone wall, striking her head on the rock hard surface. "Prue!" Paige shouted, desperately, trying to ward Lynxe off as Phoebe slid to the floor and lay motionless, a small stream of blood running from her scalp and onto her clothes. The demonic woman grinned at Paige, still clutching the bloody athamae.

"Come to me, young Charmed One! You are not one I have seen before, but I shall enjoy killing you like I did that one!" Lynxe hissed, pointing at Heather, who was lying still in Lucy's arms.

"P-Prue." Piper's voice was soft below her eye level. Prue looked back at her wounded sister and was shocked at what she saw. The warm brown eyes were fighting to stay open, but they were misting over slowly and there was nothing she could do. Piper's warm, full mouth was slack and her face was ghostly white and dotted with beads of sweat. She was dying.

"No, Piper," Prue breathed, gathering Piper closer to herself, but Paige's call sounded again, urgently.

"PRUE!"

Overcome by wanting to be in two places at once to help each of her sisters, Prue gasped and her chin quickly dropped, her body falling limply against Piper's. A red astral flash appeared at Lynxe's shoulder instantly and Prue appeared, looking around as if trying to figure out something, then she knew she had used her astral projection powers without knowing it. Quickly getting control over herself, she faced Lynxe, tapping her on the shoulder. "Hey," Prue smiled grimly at the demon as Lynxe turned halfway around, then lashed out. Her fist connected solidly with Lynxe's jaw and the demon grunted in pain, clutching her face, distracting her enough for Paige to intervene and help.

"That was for my sister, bitch!" Prue snapped, her anger welling inside her, and she almost pursued Lynxe, but Paige's voice stopped her.

"Athamae!" Paige commanded, but in her haste to disarm the demon, forgot to use her powers to turn it against Lynxe. The knife appeared in her hand in a flurry of white lights, still dripping in Heather's blood, but Paige was so revolted when her eyes flicked down to the knife blade that she couldn't think to do anything.

Unarmed and suddenly nervous at the sight of Astral Prue beside her (whom, through her panic thought was the real Charmed One), and Paige in front of her holding the bloody athamae, Lynxe panicked even more and did not even think as she shimmered away to safety.

Astral Prue's eyes met Paige's briefly and she nodded slightly, then she flashed out suddenly, returning to her own body. With a sharp inhale, the real Prue woke up and sat straighter before she remembered that Piper was in her lap. Hearing a whisper almost immediately after entering her own body again, Prue ducked her head to Piper's mouth. "Piper, I didn't hear-"

"It…it hurts, Prue," Piper was whispering shakily. "I-it's…killing m-me," Piper gasped out, and she coughed again, painfully, her body jerking and more blood seeping from her wound and onto Prue.

"No!" Prue exclaimed, shaking her head and holding her sister and placing her hands over the gaping hole in Piper's stomach, pressing down to try and stop the bleeding but feeling the raw flesh and blood pulse against her hands. "No," she said again, in anguish. "You can't...you can't leave me," she told Piper as her sister's eyes closed and she fell silent and her breathing came slowly and more still.

Lucy had reached Heather's fallen form by now. With tears of grief spilling from her blue eyes, she collapsed to her knees and dragged Heather's torso up and into her lap, supporting her limp head with a hand. The sudden movement had caused Heather to cough again, but more feebly than before as her strength ebbed. "Heather," Lucy called at her sister softly, brushing a lock of brown hair from Heather's face. "Heather, please. I'm here now."

"L-Lucy." An almost unheard whisper escaped from between Heather's blue-tinged lips. She could barely speak as she tried to open her eyes to see her youngest sister alive and well. She was numb in pain and shock, but she was relieved that Lucy had survived what she could not. Weakly, she moved a hand from her stomach, flailing for Lucy's. Lucy took it as Heather gasped, "G-get the others…Orb…t-take th-them with you…s-safety…" Her breath caught as blood rose in her throat.

"I can't leave you!" Lucy protested, shaking her head roughly, but Heather put a shaking finger to Lucy's lips gently.

"You...have t-to...get t-them safe."

Paige was running towards Sam and Kate at last, freed from her stunned trance as Lynxe vanished. "Ropes!" She demanded upon reaching them, and swung her hand towards the wall. The ropes binding the two girls disappeared in the white lights and reappeared in a heap by the base of the rock. Quickly, she untied the gag and blindfold from Kate's head as Sam hurriedly tried to rub the life back into her swollen and blood-crusted wrists.

Kate looked up at her rescuer with thanks in her eyes which then flicked to where Lucy sat on the ground with Heather in her arms. She saw for the first time what the screaming and coughing was all about, and her heart nearly stopped as her face paled. "No!" She sobbed, grabbing Sam and jerking off her chair and stumbling towards them. Sam tried to keep up as she followed her, shaky and tripping over her own feet. Paige orbed immediately to Phoebe's side and set about trying to bring her around, but her hands were shaking as well as she listened to the hopelessness in the cavern.

Prue saw and watched the two Magicked Ones fall to their knees beside their sisters, weeping and sobbing, reuniting with Lucy in the pain wrapped around them. There seemed to be nothing left for them to do but watch their sister die. They survived this long for Lucy only to see Heather meet the fate meant for the youngest Miller. As she thought this her mind made itself up and, suddenly but gently, Prue gritted her teeth and hoisted Piper's limp form in her strong arms and struggled to stand, trying not to look at the pool of blood at her feet and trying to ignore the blood that now seeped down her arms. Piper's head rested on Prue's chest and her arms dangled uselessly at her side. Slowly, shakily, Prue walked towards the Millers as best she could.

"We have to get out of here," she whispered to them, trying to keep her voice from shaking with grief. "Lucy, you have to orb them home right now. Orb to our manor. Quickly! We have to get them to safety."

"But-" Lucy began, her eyes red and puffy, tears streaming down her face as she stared at Heather, who's breathing had become shallower.

"No buts," Paige said as she supported a half-conscious Phoebe over to Prue and grasping her eldest sister's shoulder. "We're in more danger here. Come on. We'll call Leo. He'll be able to heal them. Come on. Orb them, Lucy. You have to."

"Orb us home, Paige. Quickly," Prue pleaded with an anxious glance at her younger sister, then peered over her shoulder nervously, clasping Piper to her as she searched for demonic threats, but each and every demon had shimmered out of the room when Lynxe had, thinking it was a signal to retreat. Paige obliged and lights gathered around them and the four demolecularized together and lifted through the stone ceiling to return back in San Fransisco.

Kate put a soft, trembling hand to Lucy's shaking shoulder while Sam held Heather's blood-soaked hand tightly to her. "Come on," Kate said quietly but firmly to her sister. "You have to do it, Lucy. For Heather." She braced herself for orbing as she watched Lucy.

The young witch stared at Kate for several long seconds before her eye's finally closed and she tried to push everything from her mind except orbing and getting to safety, but her grief for Heather was too great. Her sister's harsh breaths were quickly slowing and the time between them was increasing. Lucy broke down in tears and sobbed into Heather's soaking hair, shaking her head and trying to shrug off Kate' s hand from her shoulder, not in contempt, but in absolute helplessness. "I can't. I-I can't. Heather, please..."

Before anyone could speak or do anything, however, a flourish of orbs lit the cavern again and Paige had returned. Her eyes were dry as she immediately crossed to the four Magicked Ones and knelt, placing her hands lightly on Kate and Lucy's shoulders. "Let's go, girls," she breathed, though not really to the women with her. More to herself, for she was thinking about Piper and the horrid and deadly state that she too was in. But she thought defiantly of the safety of the manor, gathered her strength and orbed them all from the evil and hatred of the Underworld, leaving behind a deep pool of blood that soaked the warm sand.


	21. Betrayal

Oni-Gil: You know, it kind of sucks that the Invisible Woman can't help them right now. She kicks ass. As usual, thanks for reviewing and where is that Charmed fan fiction that I want to read from you? Go flame away and start writing!

Patricia L. Bryans: I'm glad you liked the title. It just kinda popped into my head, considering that I mentioned blood a lot...I actually thought of the Crimson Tide and was going to name it that, but that just wouldn't make much sense...but enough rambling. I am still reading the newest installment of Harry Potter, but I'm glad you like the plot twists and such. Incidentally, what surprised you about the chapter? Just curious! Looking forward to another update from you!

Catreddick4: Now you'll know what happens! Thanks for reading!

Chuckles1414: I'm glad you liked the last chapter and your wait is over!

Aussie-Soccerfreak4: I'm not sure about a "legend", nor "great writing" but thanks all the same! You make me blush! I try to make it so the reader feels like they're in the story. That's what I want. I love it when that's how I feel at movies and I try to make it like that here.

Dr. Magic PhD: I'm so glad you enjoy my story so much! It means a lot! And I would be honoured to do a crossover with you sometime! Just let me know and tell me your ideas.

Kings Lioness: Yes. Cliffhangers are over...for now. More to come, I'm sure! Happy reading!

-21-

"AUUGH!"

The defening howl of anger echoed off the grimy walls of another Underworld cave, its noise causing previously sleeping bats to flutter off in search of more peaceful resting conditions. As the small animals flew off, an energy ball hissed through the air, blinding the demons occupying the cave before being propelled into one of the many cloaked figures huddling in retreat, causing an explosion of black dust as it hit. Covering their atrocious faces, the demons standing nearby the victim scuttled away quickly, separating and trying to find a spot that their master would not see them and attack them too in his rage. Unfortunately, there was no where that they could go.

"THEY GOT AWAY!" Zoltof was screaming, his anger causing the room to shake. Dust flew off the walls as, in another blast of fire, a second demon exploded with a high-pitched scream. "How could you let them escape for the second time! Now it's not just one! It's all four who have escaped! And with the Charmed Ones no less! YOU FOOLS!"

He spun on his heel abruptly to face his second-in-command, who was nursing her bruised jaw in the shadows of the room, anxious to stay hidden from Zoltof's wrath, but not afraid of him. "And YOU!" The High demon fumed at her, shaking a long finger in her face, spit from his mouth splattering on her. "How could you just leave them? Run like a coward? They were vulnerable and easy to kill! You did not take advantage of that situation!"

Lynxe didn't answer at first as her swollen tongue moved around in her mouth, then she spat out a bloody tooth and it landed at Zoltof's feet. "Coward?" She repeated, incredulously, rising slowly. "You call me coward? You vanished as soon as the witches posed a threat! You deserted me and your demons! You ran at the first sign of danger, and you call me coward? You didn't have enough balls to stay and fight them yourself."

"ENOUGH!" Bellowed Zoltof, causing Lynxe to twitch slightly. Zoltof's cloak swung about him violently as he began to pace up and down, but continued to rant. "You had orders and you disobeyed them! You were told to keep the Magicked Ones from escape and they did! The _Charmed Ones_ have helped them escape! Now they are all together! Assuming those two witches, Heather and Piper, stay alive, they are more powerful than we can deal with. Possibly even without the two! You failed me, Lynxe. I have no use for a demon who does not follow my directions!"

What color had remained in Lynxe's face drained from it then. She stumbled to a steadier position as her vision darkened. Lightheadedness suddenly creeping up on her, she began to back away from her master, her hands raised to protect herself. "No. I did not disobey! I have not-"

"You have failed me!" Shrieked Zoltof, his eyes blazing, and he formed a huge energy ball in his fist, this one doubly bigger than the average. Grinning at the horror-stricken look on Lynxe's face, Zoltof raised his arm and threw before she could blink.

Almost instinctively, Lynxe threw up a hand, her powers deflecting the energy back towards the attacker, hissing through the air. Zoltof dodged it just in time, then shook his head in disbelief as it crashed into the wall behind him, sending fleck and chunks of stone ricocheting off. "What are you thinking, Lynxe?" He asked, shaking his head in disbelief. "You are not nearly as strong as me! You cannot survive!"

"No," Lynxe agreed as her hands raised slowly. "But I can sure as hell take some of you with me!" A blast of red lightening shot from her fingers, zipping across the room and slamming into Zoltof's chest before he could react, just as the Source shimmered into the cave, quite unharmed and unnoticed. Zoltof was hurled backwards at the surprise attack, his chest burning, but when he hit the ground, he lay there for only a second before righting himself again.

Normally, that blast of power would have killed a lesser being. But Zoltof was too strong. Panicking now, Lynxe shot more red lightening, this time at Zoltof's face, but the powerful demon conjured a force field from the air that took the brunt of the power, though did not stop it all together. Some lightening seared on his face, burning more flesh that Heather's powers had not, and he yelled in pain and anger, momentarily distracted, but Lynxe made no further move. She seemed to be pondering the best way to use her powers.

When the burning had subsided on his now blackened skin, Zoltof's eyes flicked over and burned into Lynxe's, sparking. "Your service with me is over, demon!" He bellowed, summoning all his strength and powers together and circling them between his palms until they formed a massive emerald energy ball. It flared, lighting up the entire cavern and the awestruck faces of the demons inside, crackling and sparking with power, hate, and evil. Without a pause, he hurled it at his former second-in-command. Lynxe threw up her hands automatically, trying desperately to use all of her telekinetic powers to block the energy, but it was far too strong for her and it hit her full in the chest. Her agonizing scream was cut short as she exploded in a huge ball of fire and smoke.

"Am I interrupting something?" The Source spoke ringingly from the cave entrance after a few seconds had passed. He was leaning nonchalantly against the stone watching the events that unfolded before him. When he had not been summoned to the torturing of the eldest Magicked One, the Source had sent a bat to spy on them, so he knew precisely what had happened. He had also seen Lucy and the Charmed Ones coming to the Magicked Ones' aid. "If only you had let me remain in the cavern when you woke the witches. Their powers could have been ours by now!"

In a whirl of cloak, Zoltof swept over to the Source and grabbed the demon by the throat. No other demon had ever been able to touch the Source before now and the Source was surprised as he felt his air being cut off, Zoltof's blackened face inches from where his own nose should be. "Do not mock me, demon," Zoltof warned, leaning close. "I'm in a foul mood." Releasing the Source, Zoltof turned around and began to walk away. Deep inside, however, he knew the Source was right. He knew the Magicked Ones better than the Source, but the Source knew ways of keeping witches from escaping. He had been fighting the Charmed Ones for years. "What do you want?" He snapped at the lesser demon.

"I have a plan," the Source replied, trying to keep his voice neutral as he gained his breath back instantly and folded his arms across his chest. "Attack the witches sooner rather than later. Two of them are dead, though how the Charmed One, Piper is I know not. They must be linked. But the point is that they are vulnerable now. Now is when their power is weakest. Now is the time to advance in force."

A harsh guffaw issued from Zoltof's throat, rattling harshly. "They are at the Charmed Ones' manor, where they are the most powerful. How can you expect them-"

"They just lost an innocent," the Source interrupted knowingly. "Their guard will be down. I know these witches well. Saving an innocent is more important than anything to them and they just lost the eldest Magicked One. They will be open to an attack and weak. If you let me help this time, they will not escape alive and their powers will be ours," the Source offered, standing up straighter.

As Zoltof pondered this, the Source waited. The demon had a point. As he mulled it over in his head, Zoltof saw again the look of shock and pain on the youngest Magicked Ones' face as she watched her eldest sister collapsing to the ground. They would be wrapped in grief and powerless to stop them now. "Fine," Zoltof muttered, deciding at last. "But let me gather enough demons first. We need them to distract the witches long enough for us to throw the power-stripping potions. They will not escape us this time!"

For the first time since the two had met, the Source bowed slightly to his superior. "As you wish," he breathed, and shimmered away.


	22. Violet Life

Oni-Gil: Ok, Ok. I get it. Here's your update!

Catreddick4 Patience, young one! The story continues. I promise that it will end eventually! There are some things that have yet to be explained that cannot be explained in the sequel.

Patricia L. Bryans: Alas, Lynxe didn't quite make Zoltof vulnerable. He's still an incredibly strong monster. And alas, the Charmed Ones don't always win no matter how powerful their company, at least not in my stories. But they still do heroic things. And of course, there is much more time to face Zoltof...

Kings Lioness: Now you shall know...

chuckles1414: Yes, Lynxe did fight desperately. Desperately for a demon who is about to lose her life. But I liked the way she died. She took some of Zoltof with her, and she was able to stand up for herself, unlike so many pathetic demons who perish at the wrath of their masters. Whining, sniveling.

Aussie-Soccerfreak4: Here is the update for you, mate! And never forget (these words have been rolling across my mind for the past day and a half) "If you should ever see a snake like this in front of you, don't muck with it!" :)

A/N before I get going: I shall be at Mammoth Mountain for a Cross Country camp this week. I'm leaving tomorrow and won't be back until Saturday. I'm sorry to leave you all hanging for another long wait, but I can't avoid it! Perhaps I shall leave the chapter updated and leave it for my sister to put onto the website for me, but then how will I respond to your wonderful reviews? Ah well. I apologize for the inconvenience!

-22-

The four Millers and Paige orbed down into the Halliwell mansion's brightly lit conservatory at long last, where the Charmed Ones were waiting anxiously for them. When the Magicked Ones had not followed the Halliwells, Phoebe had hurriedly sent Paige back to assist them. By the time Paige orbed out, Prue had Piper already laid out on one of the soft couches, unconscious and breathing shallowly, her arms lying limply at her side as blood began to cake her hair and shirt. Prue knelt beside her then, pressing a dish towel to her sister's wound and stroking her hair gently. Tears ran down her cheeks as she stared into her sister's pale and face, wondering if she was going to die or not. The girls had called Leo over and over but he had not come, much to the sister's worries. He had never failed to come down at their call before and now, in their greatest need, he was not there. What could have been happening "up there" for the Elders not to send down the Charmed One's whitelighter?

Now, Prue fought back sobs of grief as Paige and the Millers appeared in the middle of the room. Phoebe jumped slightly, startled. Lucy was still holding tightly to Heather's limp form while Kate and Sam watched by her side. As soon as they touched down, Paige released the Millers and walked silently over to her sisters, putting her arms around Phoebe and leaving the Millers with plenty of room with Heather. Her eyes were closed and she looked paler than death, but she was still breathing, though she inhaled sharply and raggedly. The stab wound at her stomach still shone with blood, but the flow was decreasing as the pulse in her body weakened. She was fading towards death quickly and there was no hope without Leo.

The tears in Lucy's eyes continued to drip down her cheeks as she held her sister closer still, refusing to let her go for fear that she would cease to breathe. "Heather," Lucy whispered, the name barely escaping her lips before wrenched with a sob. Gently, Lucy shook Heather's form. "Please," she pleaded softly. "Please, don't go. Don't leave us." Sam sniffed as she listened to her youngest sister and when Heather spoke, her voice barely audible, Sam could not bring herself to look over.

"Lucy…" Heather's eyes struggled to open and focus on her youngest sister, then they slowly shifted to the other two, her once proud brown eyes fading greatly. "I'm…s-sorry," she choked, gasping as blood rushed from the wound in her stomach and onto Kate's knees. "I…I f-failed you…"

Lucy's golden hair fell over her face as she shook her head furiously at Heather, flexing her arms and tightening her hold. "No. Heather, don't talk like that," she whispered. Unable to speak at all, Sam buried herself in Kate's arms as they both wept silently, listening to their eldest sister fighting to continue.

"S-stay strong…" Heather's eyes were closing and her breathing became suddenly slower as she coughed once more. Her head, which she had been trying to hold up fell limply against Lucy's chest as she struggled to speak again, her throat now filling with blood. "K-Kate," she whispered, her hand unclasping, struggling to open.

Kate untangled herself from Sam and forced herself to lean forward and she clasped her sister's weak, outstretched hand in her own, tears flowing freely from her eyes and dripping onto Heather's blouse. It took a few moments before she made herself look into Heather's eyes. "I'm here, Heather," Kate assured Heather softly, patting her hand feebly, trying to steady her voice.

"K-Kate. T-take care…of them." Heather arched her back in pain as she whispered and swallowed. Kate could feel her hand growing cold as she held it fast. "Please," Heather whispered, and then looked straight into Kate's warm brown eyes, her gaze piercing and desperate. "I…l-love…you..." she continued, and her voice was barely audible. She tried again. "I...love..." Her voice trailed away as she exhaled gently. Her sisters waited for the harsh inhale of a new breath, but nothing came and suddenly, Heather was not staring at Kate, but through her, her eyes clouded over.

"Piper," came Prue's voice from across the room. The eldest Charmed One was shaking her sister's hand, but Piper made no move nor response. She too had stopped breathing. "Piper!" Prue yelled, her eyes filling with tears. Phoebe choked out a sob and Paige stared at the couch where her new sister now lay still, and shock etched itself across her face as reality hit her.

Sam buried her head in Kate's chest and cried. Kate's eyes were red and staring into Heather's in disbelief as she held Sam close, shaking her head silently, her mouth open in shock. "No!" Lucy whispered, breaking the stunned silence at last. "Heather. No!" She repeated. "Don't die. Don't die because of me," She shook Heather roughly as she held her, as if trying to wake her up from a deep sleep. "Heather, please. Don't…no…" Her voice trailed into hiccoughs and tears as her body began to shake, then she put her head against Heather's and cried before whispering, "I love you."

Moments passed as the two families wept over their fallen sisters. Lucy pulled Heather's torso still closer to herself and rocked Heather back and forth, wishing that she had never orbed from their house when Lynxe had attacked. At least then they would have all been together and this wouldn't have happened. Guilt built in her breast and she could feel her insides twisting as she saw again Heather's face as the athamae was plunged into her belly and the expression of pain as she collapesed to the sand in the cavern. If only she hadn't left her sisters!

As she cried, a soft, violet glow slowly began to blossom and radiate from Lucy's hands, bright and magestic, but no one noticed until Kate was looking up to the heavens, as if about to scream at the Elders. She saw the glow through the corner of her tear-filled eyes and turned her head fully to look at Lucy. It wasn't until a few moments later until she realized what she was looking at, but not daring to believe what she saw. At last, she was able to pull herself together and whisper, "Lucy…your hands."

The youngest Miller lifted her head slowly from Heather's to look and saw what was happening. "What-" she started, wide-eyed and frightened, holding up one of her hands in front of her to examine it. It shone purple in the room, strong and sure.

Prue had looked up to see what was going on and when she saw, she gasped and her eyes flicked towards Phoebe sharply, who had also noticed. "She can heal?" Prue mouthed at Phoebe, who shook her head in wild astonishment. Prue returned her gaze to the Millers', still holding Piper close to her own body, but now she watched Lucy, although Prue was unable to say anything. Her mouth was stuck shut in disbelief.

"Lucy! Lucy, heal her!" It was Sam who spoke this time, for she too had finally realized what the glow was: the healing power of whitelighters, a possibility and chance of saving her sister.

Without further question or comment, Lucy jerked into action. She freed her hands from Heather's weight and held them close over her sister's wound, letting and willing the glow to soak into Heather's body, watching everything with wide eyes. Slowly, the light spread over Heather's stomach, which now glowed the same violet as Lucy's powers, brightly and angelicly. Then the horrific wound on her stomach slowly vanished, the muscles mending themselves and the skin knitting together effortlessly. The blood that trickled down Heather's chin from her blood filled mouth disappeared and without warning Heather jerked awake, her lungs suddenly working and gasping in air. At the exact same time, Piper was thrown out of her stupor and she too gasped in air and opened her eyes. The three Millers sat flabbergasted as the purple energy vanished from Lucy's hands slowly and Heather blinked.

"H-Heather?" Kate whispered, hesitating, then reaching over Lucy to push her eldest sister's hair back from her face with shaking hands.

"Kate?" Heather muttered dryly, her eyes turning to see her three sisters over her. At last, they focused and she gasped."Oh, Kate! Lucy! Sammie!" Heather struggled into a sitting position but before she was upright she had pulled Lucy and Kate into a tight embrace, motioning to Sam to join them. Joyously, Sam threw herself into the hug and the four lay on the floor together weeping with joy and shock, embracing each other as hard as they could, never wanting to let go.

"Heather! I thought…we thought you…" Sam stuttered, pulling back to stare at her sister's face, to which was returning an alive and perfectly healthy glow.

Heather laughed weakly, tears of happiness in her eyes. She pulled Sam back to her, rocking her back and forth and hugging Kate fiercely with the other arm. "No," she whispered, shaking her head and kissing Lucy forcefully on top of her head. "Never." She looked at Kate over Sam's shoulder at Lucy. "But," she continued suddenly, and her eyes narrowed, trying to figure it out. "How-?"

"Lucy," replied Kate, looking as questionable as Heather, but speaking in a final sort of way. "She healed you."

"But-" Heather whispered, astonished, her breath catching in her throat in surprise. "You can't…it's not…"

"-my power?" Lucy finished, shaking her head dejectedly and leaning into back into Kate's arms. "I know." She shook her head. "I don't know how it happened. I thought I didn't have whitelighter blood in me," she continued.

"You do," Prue said from over by the couch. The Millers looked over at her, slightly surprised as they had nearly forgotten that they were in fact, in the Halliwell's home. Prue and her sisters had remained quiet on the other side of the room, giving their own welcome to Piper, who had also been able to sit up. The four Halliwells were all crying, but Prue wiped a hand across her eyes roughly before going on to explain. "There is a whitelighter in your ancestry. I remember now, though I don't know why I remember or how. I mean, I didn't remember until this moment. Grams always told us stories about the Miller line and how it had grown in power, just like the Halliwell line. One of your first witch ancestors named Leia had a child, Shannen, with a whitelighter called David. Shannen was therefore half whitelighter but her daughter, Brianna, had no trace of whitelighter blood in her, which was a mystery then and now.

"Curiously, her blood went through your entire ancestral line without any whitelighter powers until you, for some reason. No one knows why that since Shannen, after seven generations of power in your family, you are the first to have full whitelighter powers. Although, our powers are still growing. All of ours," she added, motioning to her sisters. "Lucy's have just grown more. Her whitelighter side gave her healing powers, and just in time too," she finished, pulling Piper into another hug.

The Millers stared at Lucy in wonder. It didn't make much sense before Prue's story and now that they were suddenly informed on happenings in their family line, happenings that they didn't even know about, they had a lot to think about. But their youngest sister was still trying to master her first powers, let alone receiving a new one. Nothing except Prue's story made much sense. They were all silent for a few minutes, then Heather, who had tears in her eyes again, reached over and pulled Lucy into a strong hug. "I love you," she whispered into her ear, unable to think of anything else to say.

"I couldn't imagine losing you," Lucy sniffed into Heather's shoulder, her arms clasped around her eldest sister. "I love you too," she murmured.

After a long hug, the two sisters broke apart and Sam and Kate helped them to their feet. Heather's eyes grew hard once more as she glanced at the Charmed Ones still embracing Piper. "We need to destroy these demons," she said abruptly, causing the Halliwells to look up and stare at her. They were surprised to see the hard glint in Heather's eye, but knew that Heather was strong-willed enough to have recovered from her trauma quickly and they knew that she knew what she was talking about. "They nearly killed my sisters and they nearly killed Lucy's protectors. We can't let them gain our powers or our lives. We can't let them become more powerful and destroy us. And we can't let them get away with this."

"Wait," Piper said, interrupting Heather as she spoke at last, her hand on her stomach. "How did that happen?" She asked, pointing at Heather's abdomen, then at her own. "How did I almost die? I had the exact same injury as Heather did, in the exact same spot at the exact same time, and I healed when Lucy healed Heather. How did that happen? What magic is this? What is going on?"

No one could answer her, for they were all wondering the same thing. How did that make sense?

"You are connected."

Surprised, the eight young witches turned sharply to see Patty Halliwell coming down the stairs, still wearing jeans and a shirt, a yellowed slip of parchment clutched in her hand. Everyone watched as she crossed the room to stand by her daughters and check if Piper was all right.

As her eyes fell on the woman, a slight gasp escaped from Heather's lips before she could stop it, but no one looked at her. Heather's hands went to her mouth slowly, as she stared hard at Patty, registering her face in her mind. Something about Patty's soft, waving brown hair and deep, liquid brown eyes reminded her of something, of someone, of a place in time now lost in the depths of her mind.

_A pair of eyes. A lovely, young face brightening in a smile. Open arms. The yells of joyful children. Shrieks as two young girls threw themselves in a pair of waiting hands._

"Heather, are you alright?" Kate was whispering in her ear as she poked her gently in the small of the back. Heather was pulled out of the flashback memory then, but she did not answer Kate. Indeed, she said nothing at all as she continued to stare at Patty, perhaps too astounded to speak.

Patty, who had not seen Heather's glance, or was avoiding it, smiled at the legendary sight that met her and spread her arms out wide. "It was told this day would come!" She exclaimed joyfully, though more to herself than to anyone. If she saw the astonished faces around her, Patty did not acknowlage them and went on. "The Prophesy spoke of this day: when the two most powerful families of witches would meet and combine to vanquish an evil beyond any before. And here you are, the eight of you under one roof and ready to fight evil."

Next to Patty, Phoebe's light brown eyes flicked quickly to Prue's in an inquiring look before she asked, "Uh, Mom? Care to articulate?"

The mother of the Halliwells smiled mysteriously as she said, "I'm not sure that I can tell you everything, but I can say that you four are supposed to be here," she told the Millers, smiling, reassuring them slightly.

But Piper spoke next. "Mom," she questioned, somewhat sharply without meaning to be. "How are we--me and Heather that is--connected? We've never met each other before and we don't share the same blood."

"Actually," Patty corrected, her voice suddenly softer. "In a way, you do share the same blood."

Confused glances and raised eyebrows were exchanged among the families. Seeing them, Patty smiled and said, "I can show you, if you'd like."

This captured everyone's attention immediately and they all returned their gazes to Patty. Heather had looked up as she and Sam sat on the couch, while Paige sank onto the love seat opposite them. This was going to be important. She knew it, though she didn't know how.

"Wait a minute, Mom," Prue said, her eyebrows knitting together. "Isn't that against the rules?"

"The Elders have allowed me to take you back to the past in order to show you the events that took place which made you to be…well, related in a sense. They do this because they feel that you will all grow a stronger bond with each other after you have seen everything and that in turn will help you defeat Zoltof." Patty spoke softly, and then her eyes suddenly lowered so that she was looking at her feet.

Piper noticed and leaned forward slightly to try and catch Patty's eye. "What is it?" She asked, concerned and worried.

Her mother's eyes rose to meet hers and Piper was shocked to see tears swimming in them. "I hesitate to tell you that there is sorrow in this particular vision quest, sorrow that will be difficult for the Magicked Ones to witness," she replied.

"Why? What happened?" Lucy asked, voicing the question that had embedded into each of her sister's minds. They glanced at one another in hesitation as they waited for an answer.

Patty shook her head. "I cannot tell you here," she repeated. "You must be willing to witness the past and take the consequences that come with it. Only then can you see and know what had happened and understand it all."

Something in the deceased witch's tone caught Kate's attention and she too asked a question. "Is it…was it bad?" She inquired in a whisper. As she spoke, her sisters glanced uneasily at her out of the corners of their eyes before turning to Patty to hear the answer.

"That, my children, is something you will have to discover yourself," Patty once again said, crossing to the center of the room, between the Halliwells and the Millers. "It is not for me to say."

The second eldest Magicked One turned to her family to see their reactions and their decisions. She knew, without looking at her, that Heather was curious and willing to go through anything to find out about the connection, being the object of concentration at the moment. Kate herself wanted to know what had happened, for she had the feeling that, in the vision quest, they would see their mother. Looking into the other two's eyes, Kate immediately understood the importance to her sisters of knowing the past and saw that they were ready. Convinced without any words spoken, Kate turned to Patty and spoke two words. "Take us."

Patty inclined her head slightly, resigning gracefully to the task. "So mote it be," she breathed, then held her hands out to the Millers. "Come."

After a moments slight hesitation, Heather awkwardly got off the sofa and crossed to Patty, her sisters following her slowly, wondering where the quest would take them and what it would show. Maybe they would see their parents, maybe they would see Patty in her past. None of them knew. But they did know that something would come from it.

The Charmed Ones stood silently out of the way, knowing how important it was for the Millers to be together and alone. But Heather's eyes suddenly met Piper's and she knew that Piper needed to see everything too. "Can they come as well?" Heather asked Patty. "After all, Piper is the one connected to me."

"As you wish," Patty agreed, holding out her other hand to her daughters. It seemed that she had been waiting for Heather to ask the question. She knew that her daughters should go back in time too, but if none of the Millers had asked, she was prepared to leave Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige behind. The Halliwell witches came forward as well and Piper reached out to grasp her mother's hand while her sisters held each others'. The nine witches stood in a row silently, then Patty spoke.

"The Bond which was not to be done  
Give us the power to see it undone  
And turn back time to whence it was begun."

Piper quickly swallowed another feeling of doubt that had suddenly reared up inside her. Even though her last gut feeling had come to pass and something bad had happened, she suppressed this one, for Patty was with them and she wouldn't let anything happen to them. Piper closed her eyes as the nine of them vanished in a swirl of bright white lights once again.


	23. An Ambush Planned

Kings Lioness: Sorry that I leave you hanging all the time! I enjoy doing so!

Patricia L. Bryans: You will find out the connection in the chapter following this! I hope it makes it better for you and I hope you approve! Have fun and I can't wait to read more of your story!

Itsybitsyshelley: I am so glad that you came across my story! Thank you so much for taking your time to read it! I really appreciate new readers and it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside to know that my writing is enjoyed!

Oni-Gil: Ah. My sister. Well, keep reading...

Aussie-Soccerfreak4: Yay for everyone surviving...so far! Keep reading! It just gets better!

Chuckles1414: Glad you liked the chapter! Please keep reading and I hope you still enjoy it!

A/N: I am so sorry, everyone, for the vast amount of time between chapters! I am terribly sorry! We just had our registration for school today and I have been struggling to concentrate on my AP Lit summer reading and cross country practices. As soon as I finish my reading, I can get back on the computer all I want. I am trying to finish, I promise! The ending is in sight and I just need to read my summer work! Hopefully by the time school starts I'll have more up, but I'm pretty sure of that, though the following chapter is quite long and won't be up for a while. I apologise in advance. This chapter is very very short, but I just wanted to tell what the Source is planning...

-23-

Ten demons and the Source of All Evil shimmered and flamed into the manor at almost at the same time as the witches, unbeknowest by the Source, vanished into the past. Once inside their nemesis' lair, the demons' senses doubled and the Source took extra precautions right away, not keen to suffer the same fate as Lynxe.

"Divide and search for them," he growled to the lesser demons, who bowed to their master and immediately set off. The Source himself glanced around nervously. Although he couldn't sense his enemy, he could feel something tingle in the air, a hint of Good magic still lurking. They had to be around here somewhere! They couldn't have just disappeared.

In a few minutes, one of his upper-level demons shimmered into his presence, bowing low and murmuring, "My lord, there is no sign of witches anywhere."

The Source whirled to face him, almost losing his head. Already the witches have slipped from his grasp? "Impossible. I sensed them and tracked them here. Have you searched the bedrooms? The attic?"

"Yes, my lord," the demon replied softly. "Everywhere. There is no one here."

A burst of laughter escaped the Source's throat before he knew it, surprising even him. "Well they can't have all vanished off our radar. Have you used the demonic tracer?"

"Lord, no demon is able to sense them but you, not even the tracer." The demon stopped speaking, gulped,and continued somewhat nervously, choosing his words wisely. "My lord. Perhaps they are on a different plane?"

"A different plane? Why would they go to a different plane? Their magic does not work in any other plane but this one, and besides, orbing can not and will not take them there. I know for a fact that they escaped by orbing, thanks to the newest Charmed One. I followed the orb here. So, where could they be?" His demonic chronie did not answer. The Source nodded to the demon who had reported. "Very well. Take a score of demons to the Magicked One's mansion and search there. Leave no inch unchecked. Report back to me when you have completed the task, or if you find any witches. I want them alive. But before you go, post demons in every room, then go summon ten more demons and post them in the attic. I will personally join them. And look sharp. Zoltof will be here later to help. The attic is where the Charmed Ones will most likely return, since it is where they keep their Book of Shadows and when they come back, we will be ready for them."


	24. Mother of the Past

-24-

As the white lights slowly faded around the Millers and Halliwells and their feet touched the ground, Patricia Halliwell released Kate and Piper's hands, allowing them to look around at the familiar sight that met their eyes. They were standing in the center of the Miller Mansion's beautiful, sunlit conservatory, but this room looked different than they all remembered. The three younger Millers looked around, unable to hide their confusion and spotting unusual couches and tables placed around the room. Heather, however, stared around with wide eyes as she realised what time she was in and told her sisters.

"This was what the house looked like when I was really young. Before Mom and Dad…" Her voice faded away, but a new sound quickly erupted beside them as they were startled by the loud cry of a very young baby to their right. They all turned quickly, looking around for the source of the noise and when they saw it, four jaws dropped. "Oh my God," Heather whispered, seeing at last, a hand raising to her mouth. "It's Lucy."

The others slowly approached and stared into the small, hand-carved wooden cradle that was nestled between the sofa and a loveseat and looked upon the tiny, recently-born Lucy. The baby did not notice them at all, but continued to shout out as they watched. She looked to be only a couple of weeks old with small tufts of light brown hair covering her soft head, and her big eyes shone an astonishing blue that contrasted her hair sharply. Her tiny, smooth face and minute hands were at the moment scrunched up and her mouth was open in an earsplitting wail that would make any baby proud.

Before anyone could make another move, the sound of bare feet pattering on a hard wooden floor was heard, and everyone turned to see a small girl race into the room, clutching a doll in her chubby arms, her red hair streaming behind her. Another gasp was issued from an astonished Miller's lips, this time from Sam. She stood beside her oldest sister, clucting her arm, and watched her five-year-old self skid to a halt in front of the cradle.

After several futile attempts to quiet the baby with shushing noises, the young Samantha yelled over her shoulder, "Mommy! Lucy's crying and she won't stop! She hungry, I guess!" Samantha didn't show any sign of seeing nine unfamiliar people in the room standing quite close to her, and instead she was focused intently on the baby. Within moments, she carefully passed her doll into the reaching arms of her baby sister. "Here, Luce. You can have my dolly. No cry! No cry!"

The young Lucy's hands immediatly closed upon the doll and pulled it into a hug, instantly putting its plush head into her mouth and sucking on it happily, tears shining on her face. "See? All better," Sam smiled down at her young sister as a woman entered the room, carrying a warmed bottle of milk and a towel in her arms. "Mommy, see?" Sam pointed down into the cradle with a chuckle of laughter when she realized that she was not alone in the room. "Lucy no cry no more. All better."

Kate's sharp intake of breath caused Heather to reach over and clasp her hand as they watched their mother stride across the room to her young daughters. Laurel Miller was a lovely, beautiful young woman, barely 29-years-of age with long, flowing brown hair that was currently tightly French braided in tied-together pigtails, which made her look even younger than she was. Her long fingers and gentle hands resembled Heather's and she carried herself in the same confident manner as Kate did, while at the same time, carried an expression of utmost love, similar to that of Sam. She was of medium height and slender, exactly the same build as Lucy with a perfectly curved body, muscular from fighting countless demons and warlocks, and from her active role of raising four daughters. Laurel's perfect lips fluttered in a smile as she saw what her five-year old daughter had done to make her baby sister happy. Reaching the cradle at last, she knelt and scooped up Sam in her arms, hugging her close. When she spoke, her soft, caressing voice brought a lump to the throats of the present day Millers.

"What a wonderful sister little Lucy has! You shared your favorite dolly with her, I see. How nice of you! What a compassionate little one you are!"

The young girl squirmed with embarrassment in her mother's arms, but it was clear that she was pleased with the praise as she threw her arms around Laurel's neck and hugged her back. "Well, she cry, and I no want that. Me want Luce to be happy like us." Sam turned her head up to look into her mother's eyes. "When can Lucy come to play with me and Kate?" She asked, in a way only an innocent youngling can.

Laurel laughed lightly, her deep brown eyes twinkling. "Not for a few years yet, Sammie. She has to grow big and strong like you!" A soft finger prodded Samantha in the stomach, causing the girl to giggle and wiggle to get out of her mother's embrace.

"Stop it, Mommy! I's ticklish!"

"Ticklish, eh?" Laurel teased, tickling Sam even more, her arms clamped onto her tightly. The young girl squealed in glee as her mother played with her.

"Let me go, Mommy!" Sam shrieked, a wide grin plastering her face. She managed at last to wiggle out of Laurel's grasp and she scampered away, calling over her shoulder, "When Lucy done with my dolly, will you bring it back to me?"

"Of course, sweetheart!" Laurel called back, watching as her daughter sprinted around the corner of the room, skidding on the wooden floor in her socks. Shaking her head, she turned to her baby, cooing lovingly, "What a silly girl! Here, precious. I brought you a bottle of your favorite milk." Lucy's piercing blue eyes gazed up at Laurel as she pulled the doll from her mouth and grabbed the bottle instead with her tiny hands, inserting it into her mouth and sucking on it noisily, but contentedly without a fuss. "There we go," Laurel whispered, tucking a blanket snugly around her daughter, stroaking the soft hair gently and lovingly.

"What a sweetling you have, Laurel," came a voice from the doorway. Everyone; the Millers, Halliwells and Laurel, turned to see another young woman entering the room. She was slightly older than Laurel, but only by a few years. Her soft brown hair fell to her shoulders, full, healthy and wavy, surrounding her smooth, intelligent face gracefully. The smile across her lovely face was wide and gentle and caused her brown eyes to crinkle at the corners.

Laurel smiled at the sight of her and held out her arms. "How did you come, Patty?"

The present Millers gasped and turned to look at the present day Patty, their mouths open. She nodded, smiling slightly, but slight grief shone in her eyes. The Halliwell sisters had recognised their mother immediately but had not said anything, too busy watching the events unfolding.

"How I always do, my friend. Orbed. Well, Sam sent me, anyway." The past Patty responded, crossing to the cradle and embracing Laurel before looking upon Lucy, her hands on the side of the wood. "What a little darling! My Phoebe is almost three now, you know, and very active!"

Laurel's face brightened at the mention of the young Halliwell child. "Is she? Oh, how wonderful! How are Prue and Piper? Oh, they must be getting to be big by now! It's been so long since I've seen them!"

"They are getting quite big," agreed Patty, then added, "They miss you, Laurel. You know, as their godmother you really should come to visit them more often. Greg can watch the girls. Men aren't totally useless when it comes to their children."

"Godmother?" Prue whispered out loud, but no one heard her, or if they did made any comment. They were all watching the two witches from the past with all their attention.

"I just can't stand leaving the girls alone, Patty," Laurel replied, her smile fading a bit and her hand reacing down to stroak Lucy's head again. "After those two demons…It's just too much of a danger now."

Patty put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Oh, pish tosh. You know very well that Greg can protect them, and call you if he needs you. It would only be for a short time. You wouldn't be away from them long. It has been a while since those attacks on Kate and Heather. They have forgotten about it. Perhaps you should as well? I know that it's hard when it was your children they were after, but really. You need to get out."

Laurel's amber eyes dropped slightly, tempted. "I suppose you're right." She sighed heavily. "I still can't believe I left them without protection. Poor Kate was badly injured. It's really thanks to Mindi that she's alive. I don't know what I would do without her. She is a wonderful whitelighter for the girls. She just wans't around to help them to safety. I just with I had been there..." She sighed again. Then, in an effort to change the subject, she said, in a falsly bright voice, "The girls will want to see you!" Eagerly, she turned to the staircase and called out, "Heather! Katie! Sammie! Aunt Patty is here!"

The present day Kate sank to her knees at last, pulling Heather with her. She had been feeling weak since Patty had started talking about the demon attacks. Now, her mind was buzzing. "Aunt?" She whispered as her other sisters got down to their level as well, and the four held each other tightly, as the sound similar to a heard of elephants crashing through a jungle announced the arrival of the three Miller girls from the past and from the upstairs level. Squeals and shouts echoed throughout the house as the young girls pounded into the room at last, jumping onto each other and shrieking.

"Aunt Patty! Aunt Patty!" The past Heather and Sam threw themselves on the Halliwell matriarch at once, but the past Kate held back shyly, her eyes dropped and her cheeks slightly red. Patty knelt with open arms to embrace her godchildren.

"Hello, my darlings! Oh, I've missed you so!" Realising she had only two of the three children, she looked up over Heather's shoulder and saw Kate hugging her mother's leg, staring at her, too shy to go to greet her aunt. Patty motioned lightly with her graceful hand, beckoning the young girl to come to her. "Come here, Kate my sweet. Do I not get a hug from you?"

Slowly, Kate untangled herself from her mother and, with a slight bit of encouragement from Laurel, who pushed her lightly and said, "Go on, my dear. Don't be shy." Kate trudged her way slowly to Patty, then put her arms around her neck, hugging her tightly and not saying a word the entire time, but Patty new that the young girl was happy to see her. Her eyes revealed it. Patty drew Kate close and hugged her tightly, inhaling the scent of her hair and held the three children tightly to her, basking in their love and trust.


	25. The Bond of Blood

Patricia L. Bryans: I'm so glad you're back! We missed you! Now you can update your story as well! I like flash backs too. The next three or two chapters are in the past, so you'll enjoy it I hope!

Aussie-Soccerfreak4: I'm sorry to say that the ending is quite sad. I've written it already...I like the dramatic, you know that! But you'll enjoy it! Thanks for reading and reviewing!

-25-

The present-day Heather Miller watched the unfolding reunion between godmother and children through tear-filled eyes, on her knees and still clutching Kate's hand to her chest. She hazily remembered her mother's face, as she had been young when she died, but now she saw Laurel standing before her as clear as day, smiling brightly while she watched her young daughters and her greatest friend embracing each other, and Heather could feel her heart burn. Heather knew that there was something she knew about Patty as soon as she had seen the older woman when she talked about their Prophesy in the Halliwell manison, but Heather hadn't expected this at all. Her mother and Patty had been best friends. Each was the godmother to the other's children. They loved each other so much. But if they had been such good friends, what could Patty have felt when Laurel died? And what in the world had happened to make Heather Miller and Piper Halliwell connected?

As if an answer to her thoughts, the bright lights circled them again, ready to take them to another time and another memory. "No," Heather heard herself say out loud, and she felt her head shaking as she struggled to focus on the fading image of her mother. "No, stay here, please!" But the light had already obscured Heather's view.

"We must move on, Heather," Patty's voice floated gracefully out of the buzzing in Heather's brain, soothing. "There is still more to see. We must not linger on one memory for too long."

Briefly blinded by the brightness, Heather closed her eyes. When she opened them again, the light had faded around them again, and a whole new scene met their eyes. Now, it was Sam and Kate's turn to gasp. They were in the same tree-strewn glade where they had tried to save the young Philip Lightman and where Sam had nearly sacrificed her life for her sister's. Everything looked exactly the same here; the same boulder and sprawling oak tree, but there were a few more trees surrounding the open, grassy area, and it was clear that the events that would inevitably take place next were in the past.

As the nine watched, the white lights of a whitelighter orb flew down from the heavens and Laurel Miller stepped forward after appearing from them. She was younger than they had just seen her moments before, even younger than the present day Lucy was, around 20 or 21 with shoulder-length hair, but her maturity was easy to see. Laurel looked around as soon as her feet had touched the ground, as if expecting to see someone or something standing in front of her. As her eyes slid over the nine witches from the present, Heather shuddered as she felt a strange electricity shoot thorugh her veins. Even though her mother could not see them, there was still a connection between mother and daughter lingering. Laurel was years younger than she was, but she seemed much more confident than Heather was, more alert and aware of her surroundings.

While Laurel looked around, a demon appeared behind her, a huge, grey demon clothed in white rags. His eyes were dark, and his hair was matted and twined with leaves. He whirled into the glade like a cyclone, wind roaring, sending leaves and twigs scattering in all directions, and alerting Laurel, who spun around at once. Her jaw dropped as her eyes fell on him. The look in her eyes clearly showed that this was one demon whom she had never encountered before. Immediately, her hands went to her stomach, which the present day Kate noticed, for the first time, was slightly swollen.

"What the hell? What are you?" Laurel whispered, barking out the last question, trying to hide her fear.

The demon in front of her smiled menecingly, wickedness wrapped around his face. "The End," he croaked, and before anyone could blink, he threw a bright blue energy sphere at the young witch.

"NO!" Heather screamed. She tried to run to her mother's rescue, but Prue and Sam grabbed her by the arms and held her back, forgetting that she wasn't able to be seen anyway. The girls watched helplessly as the energy ball hit Laurel squarely in the abdomen, blasting her off her feet and sending her flying into the same tree that the demon Justain had been thrown into by Kate.

As she slid to the ground, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, her eyes closed and the demon laughed cruelly, another set of orbs appeared in the air and Patty Halliwell became visible, accompanied by a man, looking around anxiously like she had known something was wrong. As soon as the young Halliwell spotted Laurel's body at the foot of the tree she screamed, paying no attention to the demon who now turned on her. Struggling, Patty broke free of the man's grasp and sprinted to her friend's side, but as she did so, the demon hurled another ball of death towards Patty. The man accompanying the young witch jumped at the demon's back at the last moment, throwing off the demon's aim tremendously. The energy, instead of hitting Patty between the shoulder blades, as was intended, took her on the shoulder causing her to trip and fall on top of Laurel, bleeding and panting heavily.

"Patty!" Shouted the man, still clinging to the demon's shoulders, wrestling with it to keep its attention away from his charge. "Patty! The spell!"

Frantically, Patty tried to clear her head, then gasped out a spell that she had apparently memorized.

"Evil wind that blows

That which forms below

No longer may you dwell

Death takes you with this spell!"

The demon, who had begun to advance on the two witches despite the man's weight, howled in agony as his skin began to burn and blister gruesomly, and in a cyclone like a major windstorm it vanished, leaving the man on his back to drop to the ground, exhausted from his efforts of restraint.

Patty didn't bother to thank her partner. Instead, she returned her attention to her friend, sliding off of her body and rolling Laurel gently onto her back, leaving a smear of Laurel's blood on her own injured shoulder. Upon turning Laurel over, Patty viewed for the first time the horrendous wound that caked her stomach, bleeding and smoking, gleaming with blood. As Patty knelt over Laurel, choaking with sobs, a few drops of her own blood fell from her shoulder and dripped onto Laurel's bloody and ghastly wound, casuing it to hiss very slightly and spark silver, but Patty did not notice. Pulling her friend onto her own lap, Patty pushed Laurel's auburn hair out of her face, stroking the still, cold cheeks and yelling, "Sam! Please, she's dying!"

The man lying on the ground rolled over and scrambled over to them on his hands and knees. He was older than Patty by several years, handsome, with shining black hair and a tiny mustache decorating his otherwise cleanshaven face. His youthful muscles rippled under the tight blue shirt that was now smeared with earth, and his dark but kind eyes that smiled most of the time now sparkled with worry. Sam was Patty's whitelighter, and he had orbed her to the glade when Patty had found out that Laurel would try to save an innocent, only to find a trap meant to kill the Miller witch. To warn her in time, Patty had immediately called for Sam, hurriedly explaining the situation before they orbed to the glade with the spell to vanquish Shax, the huge demon who had left Laurel in this state.

Reaching them, Sam held his hands over Laurel's wound, unaware that blood from Patty's burn was still mingling with Laurel's. A golden glow of healing power soaked into the Millers' veins, casuing her to glow, repairing cuts and bruises and torn muscles. A few sparks of silver light fizzed through the gold, but after a few seconds, the burned skin healed, knitted together, and the blood running into the dirt vanished. With a sharp gasp of surprise, Laurel jerked awake. As she gasped for air and looked around fratically, Patty hauled her into a sitting position, then hugged her hard and tight. "Laurel! I thought you…I thought you died!" She said, her voice catching in her throat as it choked with emotion.

As Laurel hugged her friend in return, remembering what had happened, she felt something sticky under her hand. Pulling it away, she saw blood on her fingers. "Patty! You're bleeding!" She gasped, finding the wound and baring Patty's shoulder towards Sam. The whitelighter quickly healed his charge, his eyebrows knitting together.

"Are you alright, Laurel?" He asked her in a deep, musical voice that was filled with worry. It made the hair on the back of Patty's neck prickle. "You could have died if Patty hadn't realized it was a trap and we had come."

The younger witch shook her head before, as if remembering all at once at the mention of deaeth, clutched at her abdomen. Patty saw her action and asked quickly, "What is it?"

Laurel's eyes whipped up to the whitelighter. "My baby! Will it be-" Laurel began frantically, but Sam cut her off gently.

"It will be fine. I healed everything, including the child. It will be perfectly okay. There was something different about it than a normal child, but it's nothing to worry about. It's probably just the inherited powers from you," He added, seeing Laurel's shocked and pale face. "That's a lot to inherit, too, so it's pretty strong. Don't worry."

As Laurel nodded resignedly, Patty got to her feet at last and stretched out a hand to pull her friend up. "Come on. Let's go home. Prue will be fussing by now. I've been gone a while and she always notices things like that. Laurel, please don't go after another innocent without knowing the demon who is attacking. It's too dangerous of a risk, especially now that you're carrying a child; your first child. Please don't do that anymore, or at least call me and I'll help you."

Laurel rolled her eyes slightly, but she was pleased that her friend cared so much about her well-being. "I won't. I have to go back to Greg. He'll be worried too." She turned to Sam. "Thank you for saving our lives, Sam. And thanks for coming to help, Patty."

The whitelighter inclined his head politely and he and his charge watched Laurel orb from the glade. After a few moments of silence, Patty spoke. "Are you sure you healed her child completely? Normally, a child wouldn't survive that. And it's her first-born," Patty asked Sam again, approaching him and putting a hand to his shoulder.

"I didn't want to say anything with Laurel in that state of shock and pain, Patty, but there's something about the child…now don't freak out. Did you see those silver sparks in my powers? Well, I think it was, erm, _your _powers. Some of your blood must have mingled with Laurels and it must have already combined and gone into the child. Something wasn't normal about it. But I was worried," he said hastily as Patty's eyes widened. "Maybe the worry clouded my mind." After a few seconds, Sam shook his head to dislodge his brooding as Patty's arms wrapped carefully around his waist, and without speaking, orbed the two of them home.

The present day Millers and Halliwells watched the orbs vanish with open mouthes. Silence reigned for several long seconds before Heather finally turned to the present Patty and asked abruptly, "Your blood combined with my mom's when you were both hurt and hers combinded with yours? Is that how me and Piper are connected? Through that blood? We're...literally related?"

Patty did not answer Heahter as she gazed away at another part of the glade. "There is more to see," was all she said, and conjured up the lights again. At that response, the Millers looked to one another, nervousness etched on their faces. Something told them that the past would get worse to watch, much more sad to witness, but they had to see for themselves. They had to know the truth, and they had to learn about their mother and the development of the stongest connection in magic ever. Their lives depended on it, and the lives of the Halliwells and the rest of the world, even. Finally, slowly, they clasped hands with the Halliwell witches again, and were transported to another time period.


	26. The Birth of Legends

Patricia L. Bryans: Thank you for reviewing! Update soon, please!

Lucy Knight/Onii-Gil: That's it. And you'll see more Shax soon...

Kings Lioness: Thank you. I'm glad you like it! Update yours!

Catreddick4: I'm so excited to post the ending that I want to just skip all the next chapters! But then it just wouldn't be right!

-26-

They were now in the dining room of the Halliwell's mansion, but it was years before the present now, though the present Halliwells could see that not muhc has changed. The table was the same, but now it was covered in crisp white linin sheets, with pillows scattered over its top. As the Millers and Halliwells looked around, Piper took Prue's arm and pointed silently. The others looked and were astonished. A small dark-haired girl stood to one side of the room, her small hands clutched on the banister of the large staircase behind her. She had high cheekbones and a pretty face, but she was young; the younger Pruedence Halliwell. She stood silently away from the table as she watched her father, Victor Bennett, helping her mother towards the kitchen table. Patty was quite pregnant and from the look of it, within a few hours of giving birth to her second child. Her jaw was clenched in pain and her forehead dotted with sweat, and she was breathing heavily as she leaned against Victor.

"Prue, sweetie, get mommy some pillows from the couch please?" Victor asked the girl quickly, brushing her cheek with his hand. The girl dashed off immediately, a look of smug anticipation on her young brown face.

"Augh!" Patty sank to her knees suddenly as a strong contraction hit her, and she yelled out in pain, the nails on her clenching hand digging into her husband's arm.

Victor winced as nail entered flesh and tried pulling his wife to her feet, encouraging her as much as he could. "Come on, honey! Only a few feet left, then you can lay down! Come on, Patty, you can do it!"

It took a few minutes for her contraction to subside before Patty was able to struggle to her feet and stand and with Victor's support, she wavered over to the dining table, where he helped her to lay on top of it. As Victor shuffled pillows and blankets aoudn his wife to make her more comfortable, the young Prue Halliwell scampered into the room once more, her small arms full of two squishy pillows. "I's has the pillows, daddy! Where I put them?"

Victor's large hand patted the table by Patty's head. "Right here, sweetie."

Prue lifted the pillows to the table, helping her father arrange them so that her mother could lay her head down. The young girl looked at her mother with innocence and wonder filling her large brown eyes. "Mommy gonna have baby today?"

A weak smile crossed Patty's damp face and she put a hand to Prue's head. "Yes, Prue. Mommy is going to have the baby very soon." She turned her head to Victor, who was looking nervous as he handed Patty a cup of ice. "Victor, you need to call someone! You need help here. You know you can't do this alone. Call Mom, or someone!"

Victor seemed releived that his wife had brought up his worries and he hurriedly left the room, looking pale himself. Prue took a few steps closer to the table, climbing up onto a vacent chair and slipping a small hand into Patty's. She squeezed it tightly as she assured, proudly, "Don't worry, mommy. I's here to help."

"I know, sweetling," Patty whispered to her, then cried out again as another contraction hit her, leaning forward and breathing hard.

"Mommy, you hurting my hand," Prue whimpered, trying to pull her hand from Patty's grip as Patty goraned and gasped thorough the contraction.

Blue and white lights suddenly caused the room to shine radiantly. Patty came out of her stupor and raised her head as Prue turned around to see the equally pregnant Laurel Miller and her whitelighter, Mindi, appear on the threshold. Laurel was also sweating profusely, clutching onto Mindi's arm as Mindi struggled to support her up. As they arrived, Laurel gasped, her hands suddenly clamping onto her lower abdomen, and she let out a yell that echoed around the manor. As soon as the contraction had subsided slightly, Mindi helped her charge struggle to the vacent couch and lay her down before looking up at Patty with flustered eyes. "This day just keeps getting more interesting."

"Laurel! Don't tell me you're in labor too!" Patty called over to her friend, unbelievingly. Laurel nodded as she grasped the couch arms in pain and concentrated on breathing through her contraction. "Oh my God," Patty breathed, her head falling back to the pillows in limp shock.

"She started about an hour ago, and she insisted on coming here. A demon attacked the her other day, and she wanted to be safe in your home, Patty," Mindi gasped out, wiping her brow on a shiny, silver handkercheif.

"A demon? Laurel, honey, are you ok?" Patty asked frantically, but it was all Laurel could do to keep another scream in her mouth as the contraction continued. All she could do was nod.

"Aunt Laurel! You having baby too?" Prue asked, now stroking her adoptive aunt's sweat-soaked hair. The woman could still only nod as she tried to regain her breath, now between contractions. Her face was pale and her mouth was slack, but her eyes shon deeply with determination. "Pretty soon?" Prue asked her, but it was Mindi who answered, brushing up to the couch and lightly nudging Prue away, pishing her towards Patty.

"Quite soon, Prudence. Come on, dear. Come stand over there by your mom's head so she can see you. Keep talking to her, ok? She's going to have to concentrate in a few seconds and you just tell her to keep breathing!" Prue obeyed the whitelighter without fuss, going back to her mother at once and resting a hand on a pillow.

Laurel yelled again, and Mindi circled the couch before checking her charge's dilation between her legs, grabbing a sheet to cover her with for a slight bit of privacy. Her eyes widened as she said, quickly, "Ok, Laurel, you're fully dilated and ready. Your baby's coming very soon. You need to be ready to push!" She added, peeking over her charge's knees to look into Laurel's brown eyes.

"Oh, man," Laurel moaned, coming out of her contraction, her head rolling to the side as she fought back tears of pain.

"Laurel, honey, you can do this!" Patty called to her from the dining room. "If I can do it you can!" She was hit with another contraction just then and stopped talking to breath.

The lone whitelighter dashed back and forth between the two witches, valiantly trying to wipe each brow and squeeze each hand, fighting to keep both awake and breathing correctly. It had seemed that Victor had run off to his car in a panic, hysterically trying to find Penelope to bring her back for help. "I need more help!" Mindi finally said to herself, throwing up her hands helpessly, trapped between the two laboring women.

"Please, Mindi, don't call Sam," Patty breathed, struggling to sit up. Mindi looked at her oddly as Prue tried to push her mother back down on the table again. "Don't ask. Just get Beth or someone! But not Sam!"

"Beth!" Mindi called to the heavens, obeying Patty's wishes. "Beth, get down here! I need delivery right now!"

Another whitelighter descended from the ceiling at once. A female dressed in a light golden robe with long, red hair that was pulled out of her eyes in a braid touched down on the carpet. She was tall and slender with a loving light in her green eyes, and she carried a small handbag in a no-nonsense way. "Mindi, why? Ah," She began to ask, then spotted the two pregnant witches in the room. "Right." Businesslike immediately, Beth bustled over to Patty, throwing down her bag at the foot of the table and peeking under her gown. "She's nearly ready," she pronounced, drawing a harsh laugh from Patty.

"It's been all day. It's about time. Prue didn't hurt nearly this much."

"This baby's crowning!" Mindi called from across the room, her voice mingling with Laurel's sobs of pain. "Come on, sweetie! You can do this! You need to push for me, Laurel! Come on, push!"

Grunting with effort, Laurel screwed up her mind, contracting her muscles as hard as she could and pushed, her hands clenching so hard that her knuckles were white on the sofa arms. As her strength weakened, she yelled in frustration, and at her whitelighter's command, she relaxed gratefully, taking in a deep, shuddering breath as tears slid down her cheek.

"Ok, good! Good," Mindi said, nodding encouragingly to her charge as she shifted her weight. "You're gonna have to do this again, another good push! Ok? Come on! Push it hard! Push! Push, Laurel!" Her hands skillfully guided the baby's head as it emerged, pushing her charge even more, her voice rising to a squeek of excitement. "Come one, sweetie! Come on, Laurel! Here's the head! Ok, relax! Get ready for one more push!"

Tears streamed down Laurel's face as she shook her head, her face screwed up in pain and her hands twisted on the blankets on the couch. "I can't. I can't."

"Yes, you can!" Mindi said firmly, still holding the crown of the baby's head, ready to help the baby out.

"Mindi! I need your help here!" Beth was also grasping the head of a baby, but she looked worried. "It's blue and it's stuck!" She shouted.

Mindi looked incredulous. "I'm a little busy here!" She almost screamed at her colleguge, her hands still ready.

At Patty's cry of pain, Beth called again desperately. "Mindi! I need you!"

"Shit," Mindi panicked, looking around hurriedly for anythig that would help her, and her eyes rested on Prue. Beckoning the girl over, Mindi instructed her, "Prudence, come here! Quickly, now!" When Prue joined her at a run, skidding to a halt on the carpet, Mindi gently pushed the girl in front of her and placed the girl's hands against the baby's head. "You need to help me, dear. Hold the baby's head--gently, dear--just like this, and when Aunt Laurel pushes again you have to keep holding it until it comes out of her stomach. Don't drop it, because it'll break. It's very fragile. You have to catch it and then call me right away, ok? Will you do that for me, sweet girl?"

Prue, her eyes wide, nodded and stood firmly in front of Laurel, her jaw set. Mindi gratefully kissed the girl on the top of her raven head, then bustled to Patty in order to help her fellow whitelighter pry the baby from Patty's womb. "Come on, Patricia. You need to keep pushing! It won't come out if you just stop! That's it! That's it, push! Here it comes! Out you get!"

Though the yelling and gasping surrounding her and the rising noise level in the room, Prue's little eyes focused intently on the child that had only just fallen into her arms, result of her aunt's final desparate push. It's tiny face was screwed up and its mouth was clamped tightly, its tiny hands balled into fists. Tufts of dark hair dotted its soft head and it was covered in blood and resedue. "Mindi," Prue whispered, her face shocked as she stared at the newborn laying limply in her arms. She swallowed the lump that had lodged in her throat, then said, louder, "Mindi!"

"Out you get, baby!" Mindi called to Patty's infant, guiding it from Patty's woumb and lifting it into Beth's waiting arms. "Quickly, suction its airways so it can breath," Midi darted around frantically until Prue's shout stopped her.

"Mindi! I have the baby!"

Mindi whirled around, then sprinted to over the young Halliwell with a scream. "Prudence! Prudence, my angel, you did it! Oh, what an adorable little girl! It's a girl, Laurel!" She gently pulled the child from Prue's shaking hands and sucked mucus from its nose and mouth with one of the tools from Beth's handbag. At exactly the same time as the child in Beth's arms, the tiny girl took a shuddering breath and wailed loudly, causing Mindi to wince. Laurel laughed weakly, choking back a sob of joy. Tears ran freely down her face as Mindi wrapped the child in a soft pink blanket and passed her into Laurel's outstretched arms.

Beth also gave Patty her child saying, with an emotion-filled voice, "It's a girl, Patty! Another beautiful little girl!"

"Oh," Patty sighed, gently pulling her newborn to her chest and staring into the face in her arms. Words couldn't express her feelings as she gazed upon her second daughter with love in her eyes. Beth put a hand on Patty's shoulder lightly.

"Do you have a name for her?"

After several long seconds in which Patty looked from Beth to her child, she smiled and a name brushed off Patty's lips softly. "Piper."

A mysterious smile crossed Beth's face as she bent down to kiss Patty's forehead gently. "Congratulations, my dear." She straightened and then looked at the child that was now crying it's lungs out as she gathered her bag up into her arms, its contents scattered everywhere. "Blessed be, Piper Halliwell," she whispered, and in a swirl of white lights, she orbed away.

Prue's hands pulled down Laurel's arms until she could see the tiny face. She smiled as she stared at the newborn girl, her hands still on Laurel's arm. "A girl, Aunt Laurel? What be her name?"

Laurel stroked Prue's raven-colored hair with one hand as she pondered the question, cradling her new daughter in the crook of her other arm. "Heather," she replied at last, smiling quietly. "Her name is Heather."

"Heather?" Prue repeated and was silent for a few seconds before she quipped, "I like it."

Laurel laughed and pulled Prue into a one-armed hug, planting a kiss on her goddaughter's cheek. "I'm glad you do. Meet your cousin, Heather."

One of Prue's fingers touched the baby's cheek softly, then she leaned over to leave a wet kiss on the baby's face, raising her head to grin at Laurel, casuing the woman to laugh.

Patty had come over to the three now, walking slowly, supported by Mindi's helping arms, and she carefully sat at Laurel's feet, still cradling her new daughter. "Prue, honey, come and see your baby sister," she invited, beckoning to her eldest. Eagerly, Prue did, scrambling over the couch, causing Patty to quickly warn, "Careful, sweetie. Don't hurt Aunt Laurel. Careful! There. Say hi to your sister Piper."

Prue grinned at the sight of another baby, this one in her mother's arms. "Hi, Pipe," she said, not saying the whole name on purpose. She was silent for a long time, staring at her newborn sister, and then, looking up at her mother, Prue asked, "Can I hold her?" She extended her arms hopefully.

At Patty's slightly apprehensive look, Laurel spoke up in Prue's defense. "Let her, Patty. She'll be safe. She delivered Heather, after all. She will be more than gentle with her sister."

Resigning with a smile, Patty agreed. "Alright," she whispered, transferring Piper into Prue's small arms, warning her daughter and giving advice. "Support her head, dear. Be careful. Don't jolt her!"

"I _know_, Mommy," Prue said, rolling her eyes at Patty, drawing another laught from Laurel, whose finger was in her daughter's mouth. After watching her sister squirm for a minute or two, Prue shifted her knees so that she faced Laurel and leaned in so the two children's faces were only a little ways apart. Patty and Laurel silently watched what happened next with tears in their eyes. Prue held her sister and said, "Look, baby Heather. This Piper, my sister. She baby too. You two be friends?" As Prue held Piper aloft, Heather's tiny hand jerked upward and briefly rested on Piper's before falling back. Prue looked up at Laurel, a wide smile on her face. "See? They friends aweady!"


	27. Waiting

Kings Lioness: Yes, they basically are related...extreamly far, but related all the same! Aussie-Soccerfreak4: Aw, thanks for your kind words, mate! I miss ya! Dr. Magic PhD: Thanks for reviewing! I'm so glad you like it! catreddick4: Yeah, but now I have school! I'll put up a short chapter tonight and the longer one this weekend! Oni-Gil: lol...ooook? 

-27-

"Where are they?" One of the demons who stood guard in the Halliwell attic asked his fellow with his arms crossed across his body. His ugly face turned to look at the other and his eyes glowed red. "They should be back by now," he growled.

"They will be here. Patience."

"We've been waiting for hours!" snarled the first. "The Source was wrong to wait here. They might not be back here for days!"

The other demon whirled on the first, his hand rising warningly. "Do not let the Source hear you speak of him so! He will surely kill you."

"Ha!" The first demon laughed. "Anything would be better than standing around here, bored out of our wits while we wait for some pathetic witches to come."

"I can fix that," came a cold, cruel voice from behind them. The demons turned around to see, not the Source as they had expected, but Zoltof, burning an energy ball in his palm. The demons bowed quickly, both trying to avoid looking at Zotof's scarred and mutilated face, but apprehensive nonetheless. "You wanted to die?" The energy ball grew in size. "I can kill you right now. Or, would you rather wiat here like the Source instructed and kill the witches when they return?"

Neither demon spoke for several long seconds. Then, the furst mumbled, bowing, "We stay, Lord."

Zotof nodded approvingly. "Good." The energy ball vansihed and he watched the demons' faces. "Remain patient. I feel the witches will return shortly, and then you can take your anger out on them. Blood will be spilled. They will not escape us this time!"


	28. Deceased Lives and Final Decisions

Oni-Gil: Sorry about short demon chapters...here's a longer one.

Patricia L. Bryans: I'm so glad you liked the chapters. And glad you had fun in Woodstock. Anyway, update yours soon!

Aussie-Soccerfreak4: I'm glad that you still like my story enough to keep reading it! Thanks for that! You're the best, mate!

-28-

The Millers were back in the glade this time, but it was later in time than when they and the Halliwells had first been there to watch the Miller's parents fighting demons. Again, Laurel Miller was standing in the glade next to the boulder, but this time, a man accompanied her, his large hand in hers; her husband, Greg. His eyes were dark and handsome, his nose and mouth of perfect proportions. His hair was black and shining, parted neatly in the middle of his head. The darkness of his skin suggested a different nationality than Laurel, but they seemed to be a perfect match. His broad, strong shoulders countered her smaller frame, but both seemed comfortable around one another. When he spoke, his small, thin mustache twitched.

"Babe, there's no one he-" his deep voice was cut off by Laurel's thin, graceful finger that had pressed against his lips, warning him to be silent. Her hand fell to his chest, sher hand quivering slightly, and he pulled her a touch closer to his solid body for comfort. Laurel was shaking, remembering her past in this glen, where she had feared for her first-born child's life. Now, almost ten years later, her four girls were safely at home under the protection of Mindi, Laurel's faithful whitelighter, unaware of what their mother and father were facing.

Now, Laurel knew she was up against a powerful demon who would try to kill a young witch to get to more, on orders of the Source himself. It was Laurel's destiny to save this girl, and she had to do it alone. Or, she had wanted to. She had not told Patty Halliwell about it, because she knew that her friend would insist on coming. Though she didn't know exactly when demon was due, or who it was, she had confidence that she could vanquish it. She was powerful enough to vanquish a single demon on her own. Greg, however, had insisted that he come with her, and Laurel finally relented, knowing that she could help him escape if he needed help.

A woman of around 20 strode across Laurel's vision, breaking her daydreams. She was holding the hands of her husband and small boy, who Laurel could only presume was her son. The woman was the witch from her premonition. Laurel could sense the aura about her and recognized the straight, blond hair that framed the younger woman's face. Well, she might as well not waste time. Laurel stepped forward immediately, pulling Greg with her and hailed the woman with a raised hand. "Excuse me! Ashley, isn't it?"

The woman turned sharply at the sound of the voice, seeing Laurel for the first time. She eyed her suspiciously, then answered hesitantly. "Yes? Can I help you with something?" Instinctively, delicately, she pushed her son towards her husband, who bend to pick him up protectively.

Gripping Greg's hand, Laurel moved forward. "You're in danger here, Ashley. You and your family both. You must leave now," she told the other woman warningly.

Ashley's fine brows knitted together. "What are you saying? I don't even know you." She began to walk away, but Laurel reached out and grabbed Ashely's arm, forcibly stopping her. "I beg your pardon," Ashley snapped, but Laurel pulled her close to herself before Ashley's husband could wrenched them apart. She hadn't wanted to say this, but now she had to. The woman had to trust her.

"Please," Laurel said, looking straight into the other woman's eyes. "I know you're a witch. I'm Laurel Miller. I know."

The young woman's eyes widened and she stumbled backwards, wrenching her arm out of Laurel's grasp, her face whitening. "_You? You're_ Laurel Miller?" After Laurel nodded, Ashley's eyes stared at her for only another minute before they cleared of doubt. Straightening, though still shaking from shock, she said to her son, "Come on, Ben. We'll go to the creek another day. Mommy's not feeling well." Ignoring her son's protest yells, Ashley briefly met Laurel's eyes and nodded slightly, thanking her. Laurel flashed a fleeting smile and watched them part hurriedly.

When the small family was out of sight, Laurel felt an evil shimmer in the air. Letting go of Greg's hand, she stepped forward slowly, slyly trying to be silent in order to spot the demon before he spotted her, but she had barely walked two steps before a scream cut the air. She spun around just in time to see her husband blasted off his feet and slammed into the boulder behind them. A loud crack rent the air and the man slid down the stone and sprawled on the ground, motionless, his neck at an odd angle to his body.

"Greg!" Laurel screamed, but as she tried to run forward, a clawed hand gripped her arm and swung her around, and she found herself face to face with Shax. Its ugly face was twisted with hatred and anger, eyes narrowed and sparking with evil and loathing. As it held her, it spoke, the first time it had spoken more than it's usual two words.

"You...witch! Made them escape!" Its putrid breath blasted into the struggling Laurel's face before he threw her away form him. Laurel's arms and legs flailed in the air and she landed on the hard ground, all the breath in her lungs whooshing out of her. As she lay coughing on the ground, clutching her chest, a twig snapped, causing her to look up abruptly. Shax had approached her and now held an energy ball in his palm as he glowered at her. "You...are doomed, witch!" Shax snarled, and hurled the ball at her.

She cried out and flung up her hands, causing the ball to freeze in midair. With no time to redirect the frozen ball of death and breathing heavily, Laurel scrambled to her feet and dove out of the way of another energy ball, which took a large chunk out of a nearby tree. Laurel straightened up at once, and, trying not to look at her husband lying on the ground, and turned to Shax pleadingly. "Why are you still here? You can't have me!"

The demon did not seem to listen nor did he reply, but continued to advance on the lone witch, making her back up. She dodged another energy ball, using her levitation to lift herself over the demon, executing a front flip as she did, but when she landed, Shax had already spun around and had anticipated her powers. In one fluid movement, he had her by the throat. Gasping abruptly, Laurel fought savagely to dislodge herself as she felt his hand squeeze her airway, not giving her any room to plead, as most demons would have done tauntingly, let alone to let her breathe. She tried to speak, and her fingernails were scratching at his gray skin as she fought to dislodge his sharp claws that dug into her neck, piercing the skin, but Shax held her even tighter, lifting her from the ground, his lips parted in an evil grimace. Both of the witch's hands were now frantically grabbing at his powerful forearms and her feet were trying to kick out at him, but slowly, surely, the strength was quickly ebbing from her grip. Still, her eyes remained fixed on Shax and her mouth moved as she tried to gulp in air that she couldn't find. Feeling the claws slicing into her throat, she coughed very slightly, extricating some of the precious air that remained in her lungs, but Shax did not let go.

Squeezing tighter still, Shax bared his teeth in a grin and leaned his head in so that their faces were millimeters apart, and whispered, "This is the end, witch," and watched with glee as the witch's movements slowed.

As she stared into his gray eyes, Laurel felt her lungs depleting and heard a buzzing in her head, feeling dizzy, then seeing black at the corners of her eyelids. Desperately, she scratched, tore, pulled at the demon's hands, but her strength was nearly gone and her eyes were clouding over. Shax watched as witch's eyes emptied slowly of life and misted over. Her hands made one last, frantic spasm for his arms, then, slowly, they fell still, slipped from his wrists and dropped to her sides, limply. Her eyes were still staring at Shax, but she was heavy in his hand, her mouth slack and open from her last attempt to breath in air.

Just as she ceased to move again, a flurry of blue and white orbs spun into the glade, just opposite from the demon, and Patty and her mother, Penelope, appeared, both slightly winded. At first, Patty didn't see Shax, but the sound of a harsh laugh alerted her and she spun to see Shax turning to face her, Laurel dangling limply from his huge hand that was still enclosed around her throat.

"NO!" Patty's scream ripped through the air and as she started towards Shax, but Penelope's hand had latched onto her arm and yanked her back. She gripped her daughter's trembling arm hard, straining to keep hold of her as Patty fought to get free. Penelope's voice cracked with unrestrained emotion as she, too watched the demon with horror, but her tone was nevertheless strong and forceful. "Patty, we must say the spell! We must vanquish him! Our lives! Our own lives are in danger now!"

"I don't care!" Patty cried, fighting to break free of her mother's grip as Shax laughed at her. His eye caught Patty's and he grinned again, and threw Laurel away from him effortlessly, like he was discarding a bit of rubbish. She fell heavily to the ground, close to her dead husband and did not rise.

"We must!" Penelope shouted into Patty's ear to make her listen to sense.

Tears of anguish sliding down her dace, Patty hastily read the spell that Penny held at the same time as her mother read it.

"Evil wind that blows

That which forms below

No longer may you dwell

Death takes you with this spell!"

Once again, the gray-and-white-clothed demon twisted on the spot in extreme pain, roaring with fury and agony, then an enormous upheaval of wind wrapped itself around the demon and the women. In an explosion of leaves and dirt clumps, Shax was gone, his final scream echoing through the trees.

With a sob, Patty wrenched her hand away from her mothers and ran to her fallen sister witch before Penelope could say anything. As soon as she drew close, she knew it was too late. Laurel's beautiful brown hair was strewn around her, matted with grime and leaves. She was spread-eagled on her back on the damp ground, her eyes wide and staring past the treetops above her, her face as white as paper and her neck purple with bruises and bleeding freely from where Shax's claws had ripped into her throat. Her mouth was open but there was no rise or fall of her chest, no air moving between the slightly-parted lips.

Her long fingers shaking, Patty fell to her knees beside Laurel. She stared at her friend's eyes, those terror-filled pupils for several seconds, then Patty's eyes dropped and closed, tears leaking from between her eyelids. With a choking sob, Patty's hand fumbled for Laurel's. They were cold. "No," she choked, pushing the long brown hair from Laurel's frozen face. "No, please, don't leave me!" She sobbed into her friend's hair as she pulled Laurel up into her lap. "Please. No! Sam!" She shouted the name of her whitelighter into the deadly silence, then again. "Sam! Please!" But no lights came, no friendly, dark face of Patty's whitelighter brightened hope. Sam did not come.

"No, Laurel, please," Patty repeated, hauling Laurel's still body up farther onto her knees. She gathered her friend in her arms and rocked back in forth, crushed with grief. "Sam," she whispered again, but her yells were futile now, her cheek against Laurel's limp head.

"He can't come," Penelope's voice said. She was kneeling on the ground with a finger against Greg's neck, checking for a pulse that she couldn't feel.

"What?" Patty sniffed, tears continuing to flow, raising her head. "Why? Why can't he come? He-he has to save her. He...save..." and she dissolved into tears again before she could finish, her body now shaking uncontrollably.

Closing her eyes to the sight of Greg's hideously broken neck after shutting his wide eyes, Penny repeated. "He can't come. He's not allowed."

At this, Patty's head turned upward. Her expression startled Penny as she looked over at her daughter. It was a mix of the greatest grief, and the greatest anger, her eyes were burning with the light of hatred. Penny had seen that look only once before, and that was in the future, during events that would happen during her granddaughters lifetimes. No one knew if they would occur, but nevertheless, she was positively frightened by the light in Patty's eyes. "He's not allowed?" Patty repeated. "By who? The Elders?" She sniffed again, this time scrubbing a hand across her eyes roughly with one hand, her other holding Laurel still. "What right do they have to take her away from me? What gives them the authority?"

Penny's hand was trembling as she crossed to her daughter, but when she spoke, her voice was steady and strong. "They...there's a reason for everything, and there is a reason for this. You can't know until much later, but she died for a cause, Patty." She knelt next to her daughter and reached out a slightly trembling hand, closing Laurel's eyes gently before Patty could protest.

"Who cares what the damn Elders say!" Patty shouted at her mother, but mostly to the heavens. "She is the only one...she was my best...she...I..." Her grief overpowered her once more and she collapsed further, cradling Laurel's body, hugging it tightly, her sobs wrenching her throat.

The present-day Miller and Halliwells stared at the events that unfolded through tear-stung eyes. Kate and Heather were in each other's arms, clutching hands. Sam was clutching her stomach and she was on her knees like she was going to be sick. Lucy cried silently into Samantha's shoulder as Sam's arms held her close to her own shaking and numb body. Silent tears slid down Prue and Piper's cheeks while Paige hugged Phoebe tightly, stroking her hair, trying to be soothing. Slowly, the scene of Patty's mourning was clouded by a light silver mist, and within moments it was completely shrouded by magical fog and hidden from sight, though it would forever plant itself into each of the women's minds.

The ghost of Patty Halliwell watched the witches in silence, giving them time to cope with what they had seen. Her own hand was over her heart and a painful expression lined her beautiful face, which was damp with tears. She had forgotten how painful Laurel and Greg's deaths had been to her, Laurel's in particular. Following, Patty could not bring herself to trust the Elder's judgment again, but nevertheless continued to do as they requested, even though she did it stubbornly. Patty understood that having the girls, all of them, watching Greg and Laurel Miller's deaths could be dangerous to their powers, since they were tied to emotions, but as she watched them now, Patty felt that they were strong enough to keep going and use the experience for the better. They would not let it destroy them. However, only time would tell.

It was a few moments before Patty realized that Prue's eyes were on her. She turned and returned her daughter's stare, but did not speak. "Why didn't you tell us?" Prue whispered, holding Piper in her arms. "Why didn't you tell us any of this? That we were connected, that we had this Prophecy to fulfill?"

Patty went over to Prue and reached out to put a hand to her cheek. "Prue, honey, you were never supposed to find out. It...wasn't allowed, especially not for you. I tell you know because you must know it in order to defeat Zoltof."

At the mention of the demon's name, Heather, Kate and Sam looked up abruptly and Lucy's hand went to Sam's, who clasped it tightly. The three eldest Miller's were staring at Patty and their lips were all in a straight, painful line. It seemed that there was some sort of energy joining the eight young witches together now that they knew the truth. But, though it was slightly awkward, each felt like the other's sister, like one family. Now they understood why Piper had felt the dagger that had almost killed her and Heather, but it still did not make much sense.

"This is it," Phoebe said, breaking the silence suddenly, causing the others to look at her.

"What?" Sam whispered.

"This is it," Phoebe repeated, straightening abruptly and wiping the tears from her eyes. "This is the way to defeat Zoltof. 'A new power from light emerges. Only present and future can combine.' The eight of us, four Millers, four Halliwells," she explained, gesturing as she spoke, her voice increasing with speed as she understood. "You weren't supposed to meet Paige yet," she told the her own sisters. "None of us were. She's the future." She looked over at her mother then. "You and Grams can't help us defeat him because you are the past," she told Patty. "Between the eight of us," she said, guesturing at the living eight women. "We can beat him."

Her sisters and friends pondered what she had said. It was true. The eight living women had to combine together in order to win. They had to do it together. Zoltof was much too powerful for one of them to defeat. "Why are we still here then?" Heather said, roughly, speaking for the first time. Her eyes were hard and her mouth was a straight line, her look was hardening even more after the truth was revealed about her mother and father. "We can't...let Mom and Dad die in vain," she breathed out, with some difficulty. "We have to rid the world of this evil once and for all."  
"I couldn't agree more," Prue said, nodding. "But we don't know how to do it. We have no spell, no potions."

Sam spoke up then. "In our Book of Shadows, we have a spell to combine powers. We can use that along with a vanquishing spell to make a more powerful incantation..."

"...or we can combine the vanquishing spell for the Source with our Power of Three and your Power of Four spells," Prue said, continuing for Sam.

"We have to go then," Lucy said, softly, though showing slight hesitation at speaking. "We have to go...back...back home."

None of the Millers looked at the Halliwells. Instead, they examined one another worriedly. Going back to the manor would bring back horrible memories now that they had seen their mother in the past, and since they had been attacked and almost killed there themselves, and it would be dangerous, but they had to do it.

"Well, we have to go back to our manor eventually," Piper reminded them, looking sideways at her sisters. "I think that's where we'll be the most powerful, since..." But she didn't have a reason. The others agreed with her, though and did not question what she said.

"OK," Prue said decisively. "To the Miller's home first, write a spell, get ready, then back to our manor, where we can summon Zoltof and kill him." The others nodded.  
Heather motioned to her sisters. As the other three clasped hands, she looked at the other family. "We'll see you there," she told them, locking eyes with Piper briefly before turning to her sisters. "Girls, let's go home." The Halliwell's joined hands with each other as well and they all looked expectantly at Patty. With a wave of her hand, Patty sent the girls away, the white lights fading as quickly as they had come.

As she watched the girls disappear, a light, beautiful, angelic voice above her head called her name. "Patty. Your time is through. You've done your job. It's time to let them do theirs. A destiny awaits them that we cannot change."

Patty's lips creased in a smile and she shook her head, trying to release the questions buzzing in her mind. "They will be strong, Laurel. They can do it," she added, though she seemed to be convincing herself.

"It's time to come home," the sweet voice of Laurel Miller said again, gently persistent, and Patty could almost feel her friend's arms reaching out for her, waiting for her to come back to her.

Patty began to fade as lights swirled around her. Staring at the place where her daughters had just vanished, a single tear dripped down her cheek as she stretched out her arm and whispered, "Blessed be, my children," and then she vanished, leaving a magical aura still hanging in the air.


	29. Final Preparations

Oni-Gil: Yep. Very sad. I know. I loved writing it. Alas, it only gets worse, but not in this chapter...

catreddick4: I have said it before, many times, and I shall say it again. It is quite sad...it gets worse. But for now, this chapter is only to prepare you...you know, read it, then get a box of tissues cause the next one is coming soon!

Kings Lioness: Sorry it took so long to update. I have been kept incredibly busy, what with Cross Country and homework and theatre and choir, and now being sick, but I updated at last and hopefully the next chapter will not take two weeks to get updated. I wouldn't be able to live with myself, because the next chapter, chapter 30 is the one I spent the most time on figuring everything out...

Patricia L. Bryans: Yep, and it's sad how everything happens. At least now they know. Too bad there was no other explanation for Greg and Laurel's death. It's horrible. Especially how Greg dies, cause he's mortal...

Aussie-Soccerfreak4: Thank you for reading this, Bethie! You rock my world!

-29-

As soon as they had arrived in the main hall of the Miller's mansion, the Halliwells released each other's hands and looked around, awkwardly. They had only heard stories and legends about the house that the Magicked Ones lived in, and even though they knew it was similar to theirs, they were not prepared for the actual sight. Picturing a beautiful, homey living space, the Halliwells had forgotten that the other witch family had gotten attacked at this house and were promptly kidnapped, leaving them no time to clean up.

The room that they arrived in was a mess, burned and singed from demons that had presided there briefly, and from the aftermath of the attack by Lynxe and her followers. Chairs were up-turned and charred, and broken glass littered the ground around empty window frames. Pieces of cotton and fabric were strewn across the carpet, blasted from within the furniture. Earth scattered the floor, adding to the crunch underfoot, a result of pots of flowers and plants being smashed to the floor. The beautiful interior design that the Halliwells had expected had been ruined by Evil, and they couldn't help looking around with dropped jaws.

"Hey guys! In here."

The Halliwells turned to see Heather beckoning them through a doorway. Crossing the room slowly, still glancing around, they did as they were told, not speaking to each other, nor keeping eye contact. As the Charmed Ones stepped into the Miller's kitchen, they saw Sam and Kate already cleaning, picking up bits of fallen jars from the floor, while Lucy was taking out a large cauldron from a cabinet whose door was swinging, broken, on its hinges. "This is where we'll make the potion," Heather told them all as the other family joined them. Turning to the Halliwells, she added, in an apologetic voice, "Sorry about the mess. It's never like this. Kate has it spic and span all the time."

"Don't worry about it," Piper told her, quickly, averting her eyes.

"Anyway, we should all split up jobs, I think," Heather continued, quickly, to stem the embarrassment. "Piper, Paige and Sam, you three can make the potion as soon as we can find one powerful enough. Kate, Prue, and I will check the Book of Shadows. It's still up there. Evil can't touch it," she added, answering Paige's confused look. "We'll have Phoebe and Lucy draw up a spell again since they seemed to work well together and they both do that for their powers anyway." She stopped then and looked around.

Lucy stood in the corner of the kitchen leaning snugly against Kate, whose arm was around her youngest sister. Kate's eyes were on the floor, as if they were searching for a dropped possession and her mouth was close, as it normally was. Sam had a hand resting on the counter as she was listening to Heather. Prue and Piper were standing together, listening intently to her instructions, but Phoebe, who stood opposite Heather, and Paige, who stood alone, looked slightly uncomfortable, awkward at being inside the house of the Magicked Ones. Heather saw their hesitation and smiled. "It's all right, you guys. We can help you find what you need. We're here to help each other, after all." She looked up and met Kate's eyes at last, and saw worry swimming in them. Quickly looking away, Heather tried hard to swallow her own doubts and said, "OK, let's go to work. The sooner we vanquish the demon, the sooner we can get back to our lives."

Slowly, the women went their separate ways. Before she went upstairs, Kate stayed behind, watching Lucy go into the other room with Phoebe. As soon as the youngest Miller was around the corner and out of earshot, Kate looked over at Heather. "What are we going to do?" She asked suddenly, struggling with an emotion that threatened to overpower her. She was shaking, and her hands were clenched on the edge of the counter to steady herself.

Heather was slightly startled. "What do you mean?" She asked, taking a small step forward, but Kate stepped back.

Kate's eyes continued to fill with tears. "I mean, look at us," she continued, spreading her arms slightly. "We barely escaped that demon alive. We almost lost you, and we almost lost Lucy. We just found out that you are related to Piper Halliwell, literally, and that our mother and father were murdered by a demon who was supposed to kill someone else, like us. Now our house is destroyed and my sisters are in a danger that I can't fight." She buried her face in her hands and began to cry.

A bit thrown off by her normally strong sister breaking down like this, Heather only hesitated a fraction of a second before crossing to her and pulling her into an embrace filled with all the love in her heart. "I would never, ever let anything happen to you, Katie. Never. I'll keep you safe. I love you so, so much," she whispered, her mouth close to Kate's ear. Then, she kissed Kate's forehead passionately, and again, and held her as tightly as she could, feeling each of Kate's sobs against her body.

"Oh! Sorry! S-sorry!"

Heather looked over Kate's head to see Prue stop abruptly in the doorway, her eyes widening at the sight of the two sisters hugging.

"Sorry!" Prue repeated, awkwardly trying to turn around. "I'll-I'll just leave you two alone," she murdered, starting to leave the room, but Heather, pulling out of the embrace but leaving an arm around Kate, said, "No, please, Prue. Stay."

The older woman obeyed, still looking flustered. "Well, I, uh, was waiting for you two . We're going to look in your Book..." she began.

"Yes, we were just coming," Heather assured her, trying to smile.

Prue, returning the smile, came into the room all the way then and said, slowly, "Look. We'll do all we can to help. He's our enemy too. Anything you need from us and we'll do it. We...we're bonded, after all. We'll help."

Heather and Kate crossed the kitchen slowly. Putting a hand on Prue's shoulder, Heather said, "We know you will. Thank you," and pulled Prue into a hug. The Halliwell was taken aback, but returned it. After some long seconds, the women pulled away from each other.

Shuffling uncomfortably, Kate spoke quickly. "Upstairs?"

Her sister nodded and Prue said, "Yeah," and the two Millers lead the way up to the attic, where the Book of Shadows lay ready to be examined and consulted.

Two hours later, Lucy sat up straight, arching her back painfully and massaging her stiff muscles, but she was waving a yellowed piece of paper in her hand victoriously. "We got it," she yawned. "It took us a while, but we've finally made a spell that should work."

Prue stood up and stretched too. "How can you be sure that it'll be strong enough?"

"Well, we've combined each family's strongest spell: the spell to vanquish the Source, as well as combined the Power of Three and Power of Four spells. It's strong enough," Phoebe said, finishing reassuringly and confidentially.

"And will holding crystals work?" Heather asked, looking up from the Book of Shadows.

"No evil can escape them," Piper responded. "I don't think Zoltof will, as powerful as he is. But we might only have seconds before he breaks through. that's barely enough time. We have to move quickly once we've found him."

"Well, we have our strongest set of potions, plus one that was just entered in the Book," Sam added in, looking at Prue with raised eyebrows.

Prue returned the look and smiled. "You probably get help from your ancestors as well." She turned to the page Sam had been looking at and said, "In this case, a 'R. Alena'." She looked at the Millers again. "Who is R. Alena?"

"Rachel Alena," said Kate's quiet voice after a moment. The others looked at her. She had barely spoken in front of the Halliwells at all and they were a bit astonished, but they didn't show it. The Miller's however, were used to Kate's silence, but valued her input when she gave it and listened carefully. Kate continued. "She's one of our ancestors. Quite a famous witch, actually."

Heather studied the entry in the Book as well. "That explains why the writing is difficult to read," she commented, running a hand over the yellowed page. "It was written by someone who lived a couple hundred years ago."

Silence floated around the room as they all thought of this until Paige said, shifting in her chair, "So, getting back to Zoltof. Do we have a plan?"

Phoebe finished copying the last word on her spell then put down her pencil, before looking up at her sister. "Well, you and Lucy will have to place the crystals around Zoltof, and-"

A gasp from Heather made them all look around at her, Phoebe stopping abruptly in mid-sentence. The eldest Miller had suddenly gone pale. "You want..._Lucy_ to do that? It's too dangerous! He's too powerful!" she was breathing heavily and clutching a chair in shock as she stared incredulously at Phoebe.

"Heather," Lucy said, almost whining. "I can handle it. I'm older than I used to be. I can do this now."

The older girl shook her head. "No. It's too dangerous. I won't let you," Heather said sharply, shaking her head. A hand rested lightly on Heather's shoulder then, and she turned her head to see Piper at her side. A strange feeling overtook her, then a soft jolt of electric energy passed through the two. But though they both looked into each other's eyes, slightly frightened, no one else seemed to notice.

"You have to let her go," Piper said, softly, seemingly ignoring the jolt she had just felt in her heart. "She'll be orbing so she'll be too quick for Zoltof. You can't protect her forever."

At these words, Heather angrily shrugged off Piper's hand. "It's my job," she said, backing a few paces away from Piper and folding her arms. "I have to protect them."

"No, Heather, you don't," Lucy snapped to her sister, causing Kate and Sam to gape. They had never seen Lucy snap at Heather. Of course, being sisters, they had their rifts, but Lucy had never snapped, and they had never seen them fight as passionately as this. Heather, too, seemed to be taken aback. She opened her mouth quickly, as if to say something back, but closed it again, her face pale. "I'm not a child anymore!" Lucy continued, desperately. "I'm an adult! I can take care of myself."

"You're barely an adult, Lucy!" Heather replied, her voice rising, sharply without her meaning to. "You're barely 22 years old, and-"

"What does age have to do with it?" Lucy retorted, closing the Book of Shadows with a loud snap and cutting Heather off. "I'm a witch," she spluttered. "I have powers that I can protect myself with. What do you want from me?"

"I can't lose you again!" Heather cried, slamming her fist down on the table next to her angrily, leaving an abrupt silence in the room. Lucy stared at her sister, her mouth half-open and quivering, shocked into silence. After a few seconds, Heather's fist relaxed and she exhaled, releasing a fresh set of tears. "I can't lose you again," she repeated in a quiet sob, and she put her hands to her face.

The Halliwells looked around, shocked and embarrassed, and Prue was wondering if they should leave to give the Millers privacy, but the sound of Heather's voice continuing to talk changed her mind.

"I thought those demons had...had killed you," Heather choked, not looking up at Lucy but staring instead at the table. "I thought they were screwing with our minds, trying to break us, asking us where you were simply to torture us before they killed us too. I thought...that they captured you and killed you in order...in order to get to us. I died inside when I woke up in that room with only Kate beside me. And...when..." she shut her eyes tightly against the memory, fighting to speak. "When I saw Kate and Sam tied up, side-by-side later, and didn't see you again, I thought...I knew that they had already..." She broke off and melted into sobs then, her head in her hands, shaking violently as she cried. She had been so sure that Lucy was dead that she had given up her will to live. She fought only to save Kate and Sam. And when she had been stabbed--Heather couldn't even think of what had happened, could barely remember, but what she could definatly terrified her. When she was lying on the floor, she felt her life slipping away, and she saw Lucy. And her will to live was already murdered by the demons who had tortured them, and then Lucy was there, shining in-Heather could not remember clearly-violet light...an angel...Lucy was an angel and greeting her into the next life. Then, Heather dimly saw Lucy next to her, and Sam, and Kate...

A hand touched her shoulder, but she did not look up. Through the corner of her eye, Heather saw Lucy beside her. Slowly, Heather raised her head to look at her youngest sister. Their eyes met. Then, Lucy leaned forward and pulled her sister into a tight hug and held her there. The seconds dragged by as Lucy held Heather, who's tears soaked the younger one's pale violet top as she continued to cry. Lucy rocked Heather back and forth, stroking her hair, then, planting a kiss on the top of Heather's head, she whispered, "I love you so much. I'm so, so sorry. I'm sorry. I love you. I love you, Heather. I'm sorry."

Heather returned the embrace then, fiercely and passionately. "I'm sorry," she whispered in turn.

"You're right," Lucy agreed in a whisper. "I'm too young. I'm too young to do this. I shouldn't have said that. I shouldn't have said anything. I should be grateful that you've been here forever. I wasn't. I'm so sorry. You won't lose me. You never will." Lucy let Heather pull out of their hug as she spoke.

"No," Heather said, scrubbing a hand across her eyes. "No. You...you should do it, but only if you feel safe. I was wrong to hold you back all these years. I don't want you to carry this burden. I don't want you to end up...like Mom and Dad."

Lucy's eyes blinked out a tear. "I have to do it," she replied softly. "It's my destiny. My part of the destiny, just as yours is to read that spell with Piper. Just as Kate and Sam's is to cover us. It is my destiny. This is what I'm meant to do and I have to do it. I have to take that risk for all of the world. My life doesn't matter. It's everyone's lives that I'm worried about."

The eldest Miller nodded, trying to block out the last statements that made her heart burn, and trying to smile reassuringly as she brushed a tear from Lucy's cheek. "I know," she said, brokenly. "I know."

Waiting for a few seconds to make sure the sisters were finished, Paige stepped in again, clearing her throat. "Um, excuse me for interrupting, but we should really get going. The entire existence of the universe rests in our hands and I think it's time to kick some demon ass."

The others tried to laugh in spite of the situation and Prue took control at once. "OK. Gather up these potions, Pheebs. Piper? Make sure Heather has a copy of that spell. We think that since you two are related, you'll be the strongest power to read it. You each have a bit of us in you anyway, in your blood, so we'll all be included in it. All our powers. All our strengths. Kate, grab those crystals to your right. That's it, that bag."

The eight witches then gathered in the center of the room. Each looked into the others eyes. The day of reckoning was here. The prophesy was about to be fulfilled, or failed. Clasping the other's hands, the Millers and Halliwells each took a breath, trying to prepare themselves, or perhaps to calm themselves. None of them knew what they were to face. None of them knew the danger that they were orbing into. None of them knew if they were all going to survive the day.

At a quick nudge from Prue, Paige took another breath at the same time as Lucy did, and together, they orbed them all back to the Halliwell manor. The day of reckoning had come. It was kill or be killed now...


	30. The Final Battle

Kings Lioness: Here you are. Thanks for waiting!

Oxymoronic-conundrum: And this is the chapter that will make you even more glued, I hope. I apologize for the immense wait! But I hope it's worth it!

Catreddick4: The demons were at the Miller's Mansion, but have since moved out, as they figured the Millers and Halliwells would not be back there. They are all now at the Halliwell mansion in San Fransisco.

Aussie-Soccerfreak4: I really appreciate your praise and review, Bethie! I am proud of this story but I am even more glad that you like it!

A/N: I sincerely apologize for the lengthy wait! With school starting, I was getting back into the flow of classes and after school activities, adding one more to my year: cross country. I have been running copiously, singing with the Chamber Singers as we prepare for two competitions and two more appearances this month (one today), keeping track of my House crew for our High school production of Guys and Dolls, and auditioning for two Children's Theatre shows. I have recently been diagnosed with "walking pneumonia" which has halted my cross country running and has made me kinda out of it. But I finished my doses of antibiotics and within the next week, any bit of sickness should be gone and I will be back to my old self again. I again wish to apologize! I hope this chapter makes up for it all!

This is the climatic chapter of "Choice of Eight" and my favorite, the second-to-last in the story (don't worry, a sequel is in progress, slowly!) It is extreamly sad and a bit bloody and gory, and I hope I did not lack on the detail. It is a long one, nearly 10 pages by my computer standards, so I hope it's not too tedious to read, but hopefully it will keep you into the story long enough to get to the end of the chapter. So, sit back, grab some Kleenex, and get ready for some good sht! Lol. Just kidding! But I hope you enjoy it!

-30-

The demon, Sarax, a huge monster with a bluish tinge to his matty skin, long gray teeth and a large purple horn sprouting from his forehead, was lounging on a white wicker love seat in the Halliwell's spacious conservatory, his feet up and arms behind his head comfortably, eyes closed to the brightness around him. There had been no sign of the witches returning to the manor, and while he could, Sarax was perfectly content to get some rest. Why not? His master would not leave the attic above him, for fear that the witches would arrive there, and the other demons on patrol downstairs were in other rooms, and wouldn't dare abandon their posts, even to reprehend a fellow demon. And even if the witches did come, Sarax was an upper-level demon, who was almost as powerful as the Source of All Evil himself. He could take care of the witches. Sighing deeply, he stretched further out on the love seat.

A bright blue glow suddenly shone through his eyelids and, curiously, he opened his eyes. What he saw shocked him. Eight women were standing calmly before him, two of them armed with small glass vials with red liquid inside, not threatening looking from first glance, but once realized their purpose, terrifying.

"What-" The demon's shock had evaporated almost at once, but as he was rising from the love seat, the witch with long auburn hair threw a vial at him. Before he could make another move and before the words were halfway out of his mouth, the potion hit him hard in the side and all he could do was gasp as he was engulfed in flame, then exploded into oblivion.

Samantha, who had thrown the potion, watched appreciatively as the last specks of dust fluttered to the floor. "Not even a yell," she nodded. "That's lucky for us," she added, relief on her face and in her voice.

"Maybe not," Prue said, releasing Lucy's arm, her eyes on the hallway behind them, where another cloaked demon had stopped in the doorway. He had head Sarax's exclamation and had come to investigate, in case he was needed, and what he saw as he stepped across the foyer made him stop, astounded. The eight women in the room had turned sharply as the demon's eyebrows furrowed and he hastily swept an arm across himself as he tried to remove his cloak.

"What the hell are-"

"Prue, throw it!" Piper said sharply, but Prue was already moving and had thrown the potion at the demon's feet as soon as he had opened his mouth. This time, their luck faded, and a loud yell escaped from the demon's lips as he flailed his arms, beating himself with his hands as he was eaten by the flames that had erupted around him. Almost faster than they could blink, the demon had exploded loudly into a blast of heat and power that almost knocked the women over.

"That wasn't good," Heather muttered as her ears picked up a frantic pound on the ceiling above her, as if someone had fallen off of a chair in shock, then a crash, as if a wooden piece of furniture had broken.

"They have to be in the attic," Prue commented, looking around hastily to see if there were any more sentries on guard. Seeing none, she hastily said, "Where else would Zoltof be?" She started for the stairs as she said this, but Lucy grabbed her arm quickly, holding her back.

"Shouldn't we orb?" Lucy asked Prue. "We'll take them by surprise. I mean, at least we'll have a small element of surprise."

Piper nodded her agreement, grabbing Paige's hand in preparation of orbing. "She's got a point."

"But wait," Sam broke in, quickly, her eye troubled and stomach twisting. "Won't they be expecting that? I mean, that's what they're waiting for. They'll be tracking our orbs in order to warn themselves of our presence. They already know we're here after all and they could be setting up a trap."

Piper released Paige's hand slowly, looking dejected. "She also has a point," she mumbled, waving a hand towards Sam.

"Anything is better than just running upstairs to be blasted into oblivion as soon as we walk in the door," Kate spoke softly, her eyes on Prue, who nodded. "I mean, we will have the slight advantage if we orb. They won't know where we'll land, after all."

"Right. We orb," Prue decided, beckoning to Heather to take her hand again. "Then, we throw the potions and hold them all off as much as we can until Lucy and Paige get the holding crystals around Zoltof and he's trapped. Heather and I will say the spell then."

Eight hands locked together again, and everyone nodded automatically. It was there only plan, and the way that Prue spoke, the encouraging, confident way made them all more confident. "OK," Heather said. "Let's do it. Blessed be."

"Blessed be."

Blue orbs sparkled around the eight women once again, and they were all disintegrated into the lights one last time.

Zoltof was making his way around the Halliwell's attic floor for the hundredth time, pacing up and down. He couldn't help it. He and his demons had arrived at the mansion long hours ago, but the witches had not come back. Where could they have gone? They couldn't have stayed in the Underworld. He had already sent an agent to check and word came back assuring him of the fact. The only trace of the witches down there was a pool of blood-soaked sand where the eldest Magicked One had lain dying in her sister's arms. The witches weren't at the Magicked One's home either, because someone had checked three hours ago, and it was unlikely that they had returned after the demon had left. They would have gone already. But where else could they be and what were they planning?

The huge figure bellowed out his anger and grabbed a wooden chair that was seated at a nearby table and lifted it into the air, hurling it towards two demon sentries, who ducked instinctively. As Zoltof yelled, another scream echoed through the air, but he imagined it was just one of his cowarding, ducking demons. One of them fell to the floor with a crash as the other knocked into him, the chair missing his head by inches. The chair smashed against the wall behind them with a loud crash, and chunks of wood scattered the floor beneath where it hit. But as the demons were looking up frantically, checking themselves to see if they were injured, white lights dropped from the ceiling with a bright twinkle.

Zotolf gaped in shock as both the Charmed Ones and the Magicked Ones appeared from the lights, holding each other's hands, and all of them grim-faced and determined. He couldn't believe that the witches were all standing in front of him...nor that all of them were alive. That one, the witch with long brown hair clutching the hand of the young blond...she was dead! Lynxe was supposed to have...no! Lynxe _had_ killed her! She had stabbed that witch through the abdomen, and no help had arrived for them as their sister lay bleeding on the cave floor.

Zoltof's hesitation favored the witches. At once, Prue had shouted, "Go, now!" and she felt Lucy and Paige orb away and back again instantly at a different part of the room, surrounding the stunned Zoltof and stooping quickly to place crystals on the floor. Before Zoltof could react, they had orbed out again, knowing that their speed could save their lives.

That was when all Hell broke loose. Zoltof and his demons finally jerked into action as Paige lay down the second crystal next to the bookshelf. "NO!" He screamed, and pointed a bloody and ugly claw at the Magicked Ones, bellowing, "Get them! Kill them!" But his demons were already moving. All of them saw a chance to make a name for themselves in Zotolf's eyes. Zoltof existed only to destroy these witches and their legacy and if a demon were to kill at least one, the reward would be great. Besides, they wouldn't be outnumbered for long, not with reinforcements everywhere in the manor. No doubt the other demons had heard the commotion.

The first demon to hurry forward burst into flame result of a potion that was thrown by Kate, but the next one was able to throw an energy ball towards the group of witches. Prue was too quick for him and deflected it with her powers, sending it smashing into the wall beside her, blasting a hole in it and showering the women in bits of plaster.

Without thinking, Sam had launched herself at another demon: the quivering Justain, who had nearly killed her once before. Now, Sam was in a passionate fury and more than ready to face the weak demon, exchanging punches and kicks with him at once, trying to get him off his balance.

Piper set to as well, attempting first to freeze the room. When that failed (all the demons merely shook off the power) she resulted to molecular combustion, though she knew the demons would not explode. They were too strong, but she could, at least, distract them. Heather, too, tried to blow them up beside her, but was also throwing potion after potion as fast as she could into the demonic fray. It wasn't until the sisters had thrown six bottles combined that they realized the demons kept coming. As one demon died, two more were shimmering into the room and joining the fight.

Battle had exploded in the attic, picking up intensity with each passing minute. Seeing the desperation of the situation, Heather's mind raced. "Piper!" She screamed over the noise, fighting her way to her Halliwell kin. "We've to do it together! Blow them up at the same time or they'll never die!" The two witches counted out loud together, perfectly in unison as they used their powers. "One! Two! THREE!" The demon blocking their way screamed and burst into millions of pieces before their eyes in a satisfying way. Their spirits leapt as they saw that they could kill demons together and they kept at it relentlessly.

Prue and Kate worked together now, one knocking a demon off its feet with her power, the other throwing a potion, each of them smiling grimly with each scream. The eight witches were slowly defeating their foe, one by one.

With two crystals left in her hand, Lucy had just orbed to a spot close to the Book of Shadows (which lay untouched and unscathed despite the fire blasting around it) when she looked up impulsively and met Zoltof's red eyes. Zoltof had been trying to hurl energy balls at the defiant witches, but everything was moving too fast around him and he even hit his own demons instead of his foe, more of them than not. Those damn witches were everywhere he wasn't! Then, on instinct, he had turned on his heel to see the youngest Magicked One orb beside the podium, clutching a crystal in either hand. She looked up suddenly as she knelt and he executed his move. With a swipe of his hand, Zoltof's powers caught Lucy up in green electricity and sent her telekinetically flying across the room. She screamed as she shot through the air, but her voice was sharply cut off as she smashed into the bookshelf a few feet away and dropped like the stones she had been carrying, which fell from her limp hand. Lucy hit the floor hard and with a crash that alerted Paige, but Lucy stayed down, motionless and unconscious.

Paige saw what had happened, but as the crystals rolled across the floor, she kept her head and dropped her own crystal, the last in her hand, to the ground quickly, continuing the ever-closing circle around Zoltof, then, without thinking, she orbed to Lucy, who's blond hair was slowly becoming crimson with blood appearing from the back of her head somewhere. As soon as Paige could bend down after she materialized, she did, and grabbed the fallen stones, immediately orbing out again and barely missing the same fate as Lucy as Zoltof shot electricity towards her too. She reappeared instantaneously behind Zoltof and put a crystal on the floor, but when he turned, almost falling to the ground as he tripped over his own feet in his haste, she had gone.

But just as Paige set down the final crystal, the door of the attic burst open. Reinforcements for the demons had finally arrived to join the fight. As the door was blasted open, Sam was jerked from her feet by the power that had crashed the door and she hit a couch hard, flipping over it, just like she had done the first time Lynxe had attacked her family. She was knocked senseless instantly as her head cracked against the floor and she landed on the ground and lay still.

Prue had also been thrown across the room as well, to smash into the bookshelf like Lucy, whom the unconscious Prue now fell on top of, along with several heavy books and volumes that dropped from the shelves in the impact. The demons paid no attention to the fallen witches, as they were not a threat any longer. Instead, they joined the fight eagerly, focusing on their targets, hurling a fresh wave of energy balls into the crowded attic and soon overpowering the Magicked and Charmed Ones.

"The crystals are set!" Paige had time to yell into the noise that was building, hoping that any one had heard her. The demons and the witches both panicked as they had, indeed, all heard. Piper fought harder, trying to blow demons apart as Kate tried to thrust them away from her. Phoebe was blocking another demon's punches and kicks with her own, and had just taken a blow from the fist of the demon to her collarbone. She hollered in pain, dropping to her knees, but at he same time, kicking out to trip the demon, who fell with a resounding crash, only to have Phoebe leap on him and, despite her injury, fasten her arms around his throat tightly.

It was then, through all the chaos that was coming from the end of the battle in sight, that Justain saw his chance to redeem himself in Zoltof's eyes. There was a sudden gap in the demons as they wound around the room fighting, and he found himself staring directly into Kate's eyes. He had not been able to kill her the first time they had met, as her sister had taken the energy ball instead. But now, he would not-he _could_ not fail, not when the witch was right there, unprotected, separate from her sisters. There was no one to help her this time.

With a howl of triumph, Justain shimmered out and reappeared at once behind Kate. She saw him vanish and felt, or sensed, his return and had turned halfway around before Justain had caught her up by the throat. She struggled at once, and her fist, that was clutched around her last potion, connected wildly with his neck. He dropped her as the glass shattered, cutting into Kate's hand, but she paid no attention as she fell to the floor, gasping. Justain howled in pain as the potion splattered on his face and chest, but it did not cause him to explode, for it was not powerful enough for him, the right hand demon of the Source! He roared as blisters sprung up on his cheeks and face, but he was infuriated. The witch had slipped from his grasp again! His swollen eyes squinted open slowly and darted around the room, but he saw Kate a split-second later, on the ground at his feet, struggling to catch her breath and climb to her feet.

Before she could even look up, his hatred had overcome him and he had swiped down and struck her jaw with his fist, combining his telekinetic powers with the punch as he stooped. Her head jerked back at the impact and she was blasted off the floor and was thrown through the air from the power.

Time seemed to stand still. Heather, who had heard Justain roar and turned to find out the reason, saw what happened next as if a path had been forged through the mele that had been made just to force her to witness what happened.

Her arms and legs flailing in the air, Kate was thrown backwards towards the wall opposite from where Prue and Lucy lay. Fragments of the chair Zoltof had destroyed were jumbled together on the floor, the sizes of pieces ranging from splinters to blocks of the unnaturally sharp wood. Later, Heather would think that she was right beside her sister as Kate had hit the peak of flight and began her downward progress. Heather's mouth dropped open in a silent scream and her eyes were wide as she watched.

Kate's form plunged downward and continued to plummet, her arms flailing hopelessly, and then, with a sickening sound, she landed squarely on a large fragment of splintered wood that was braced upright by other remains. Its thick and deadly shaft shot through her back instantly, and shattered her spinal cord as it plunged through her body, finally spurted through her abdomen, pushing blood in front of it so it showered into the air like crimson rain. Kate's sharp exclamation of pain was abruptly cut off as she finally stopped moving, and lay impaled on the floor, her eyes squeezing shut, then opening again.

"NO!" Heather's lungs felt like they were tearing as she screamed with all the air in her. She tried to sprint forward, but a blast of power from an unknown source hit her and she was slammed into the wall behind her instead. Her head buzzing, Heather slid to the floor, then felt Piper scramble over to her side hastily and seize one of her arms, hauling her upright. Heather staggered weakly against the Halliwell, blood trickling down her forehead, but Piper gritted her teeth and supported her as best she could.

"Heather!" Piper shouted, her eyes never leaving Zoltof's face. "We have to read the spell! We have to do it now!" Piper shouted into Heather's ear. Seeing Heather's eyes grow dull and feeling her sister witches' legs give slightly against her, Piper hoisted Heather up farther, then slapped the woman on the face to bring her to her senses. Seeing Heather blink a few times at the slap, Piper hastily unfolded the paper on which the spell was written. Piper clung onto Heather's arm as she brandished the spell in front of Heather's eyes and they read it together.

"Prudence, Laurel, Patricia, Amanda."

At Heather's gasping, painful, but clear words, Zoltof's feet burst aflame and he screamed, trying to stumble around to escape the fire, but the crystal cage erupted in power as he reached its boarders and he was flung backwards into the center painfully. The cage held.

"Penelope, Carla, Melinda, Rachel."

The flames rose to Zoltof's middle as Piper read her bit of the spell clearly, not daring to look up, and holding Heather tighter to herself.

"Matriarchs of Our Families,"

As the witches' voices mingled with each other as they both read out loud, Zoltof's torso caught fire and burned steadily. The demon's screams and pleas for freedom and life were drowned out by the two witches, who shouted the last line of the spell, desperate, connected, clear.

"Vanquish this Evil

From Time and Space!"

A fresh wave of flame licked Zoltof's clothes before suddenly engulfing his entire body in heat and pain. As he screamed his agony to the witches, he was silenced by a rocking explosion of power that ripped him apart from the inside out. The blast slid delicately over the Halliwells and Millers, but no demon escaped it alive. As it tore the demon followers apart, Piper clutched Heather to her, the screams and cries echoing around her, until a second blast, more powerful than the first, ripped through the attic, knocking the women to their feet, blowing out the stained glass windows, shattering tables and mirrors. But When it died, every demonic creature died with it.

Piper blinked through the ringing silence and lifted her head to look around. Zoltof was no more than a tiny pile of blackened ash in the center of the room, which caught the wind and lifted into oblivion. His demons were gone forever, no trace of them anywhere. Piper turned on her legs to embrace Heather, but the woman was pulling herself from Piper's grasp and struggling to stand.

With a wrenching sob, Heather tore away from Piper and stumbled across the room, struggling over blocks and fragments of wood and glass to fall where Kate was lying impaled by the chunk of wood from the shattered chair. Dropping to her knees beside her sister, Heather nearly vomited at what she saw as her eyes cleared.

Her sister's normally tan, beautiful, unblemished face was dead white, her lips tinging blue, and her eyes...her once proud, thoughtful and loving eyes were oddly bright, but at the same time, all the knowledge and love that normally swam in them was dim as she was staring at the ceiling in shock. Her graceful hands were clenched up roughly by her shoulders as if she didn't dare put them down for fear of more pain. Her breath was coming in ragged gasps, causing blood to pulse from the cracks where belly met wood. The stake, which was one of the sharpest blocks of the destroyed chair, protruded six inches from the girl's body and it was drenched in Kate's blood.

At Kate's side, Heather was paralyzed with the gruesomeness of the wound and shock of the events. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know where to put her trembling hands. She didn't know where to look, what to say, how to move. Finally, desperately, she slid her arms under Kate's torso and slid herself under it so that she supported Kate with her own body. Kate coughed roughly as she was moved and jolted, her eyes widening slightly in pain, gasping out air as quickly as she drew it in.

"Oh, my God," Heather whispered, feeling the dampness of Kate's hair, which had been soaking in her own blood. Indeed, most of Kate's back and torso were drenched in the crimson blood, tons of it. "Kate...K-" Heather couldn't speak. She felt her sister's blood soaking through her jeans as she held Kate and swallowed hard at the thought, swallowing vomit and fighting to keep her head, feeling each of Kate's jerky movements when she fought for air, each spontaneous muscle spasm.

"H-Heath-" The name faded off Kate's lips as she fought hard to stay awake through the sudden blackness of her vision, trying to focus on the sister that she loved so much. Kate knew that she was fading fast and that nothing could be done to help her. She dimly felt her sister's touch, felt the sharpness and dullness of the wood that was driven through her own stomach, felt each drawing breath as painful as it could be. People talk about feeling no pain at the brink of death, but here Kate learned the truth. The pain was magnified and sharp, piercing her very heart. She could barely speak, for she was ever fighting for air to fill her depleting lungs.

Heather's dark brown hair spilled over her shoulders as she shook her head. "No," she said, putting her forehead to Kate's. It was cold. "No, I can't...can't let this happen." She reached for the wood, numbly thinking on removing it, but suddenly, Kate's hand was at her own, staying Heather's hand.

"Don't-" Kate gasped, squeezing her eyes shut as she gulped hard. Trying to shake her head, and still clasping Heather's hand so she couldn't reach for the stake, she repeated, "Don't...H-Heather...It's...t-too late..." She grunted in pain, her torso twitching as her body began to shake involuntarily, allowing blood to steam out of her wound again, squeezing past the wood and over the already-soaking fabric of her shirt and onto the floor. Her hand closed weakly around Heather's and tried to squeeze it reassuringly, but nothing happened, nothing responded. "Heath-th..." she choked again, her words almost too quietly for Heather to hear. Heather leaned forward, closer, tears streaming down her cheeks, trying to hear what her sister was saying. "I c-can't...f-feel...legs..."

Moaning in grief and disbelief, Heather's numb brain desperately alerted her to her whitelighter's help and told her to shout into the air, "Jay," scream for her whitewater, for anyone, for any help. When no orbs appeared instantly beside her, she helplessly looked down again at her sister, fighting to control the quaver in her voice, but it cracked audibly when she yelled frantically out again, lifting her head to the heavens. "Jay!"

"You have to let me go!" Jay Edwards was being forcibly restrained by three white-robed Elders as he fought to dislodge them with his body. He heard Heather's scream and had seen what had happened. He was desperate to get down there, to heal his wife, to help. The Elders had to restrain him at the moment the wood entered Kate's body, as he saw all, and as he had tried to orb to her at once, but now he was fighting them harder than ever, scratching, tearing, biting, tears dripping to his cheeks. "That's my wife! Kate! No! Heather! I hear you! Kate!"

"You are not allowed-" began an Elder, but Jay sprang at him, angry glittering welling in his blue eyes, a look of pure fury and helplessness on his face. "NO! She is a Magicked One! My wife! Their sister! She can't...you can't leave her to-"

A solid blow from an Elder's fist struck Jay squarely between skull and neck and the whitelighter went limp in their grasp at once, his words fading off his lips in a soft groan. "I'm sorry, Jay," the Elder who had struck him whispered into his ear, as his fellows helped him lay Jay down on the cloudy ground. "This is for the Greater Good."

"He...c-can't come," Kate gasped as her stomach jerked again, trying vainly and involuntarily to dislodge the deadly stake from her belly.

Heather's eyes were blurred with tears as they swept the room, even more desperately and they fell on Prue and Lucy slmost immediately. It took a few seconds, then Heather realized Lucy's new powers. "Lucy," she whispered, but hearing her own voice yelling, horse and gritty. "Lucy! Get up!" She shifted her grip on Kate in her arms and whispered again, "Kate...she needs...she has to..." But her youngest made no move from beneath Prue. She was motionless, unconscious, her blond hair streaked with red and her legs twisted under her, her arm crushed by Prue and heavy books. "LUCY!" Heather finally was able to scream, her heart wrenching, but a sharp gasp from Kate caused her to return her gaze to the sister in her lap. As blood soaked her hands and arms even more copiously, Heather felt Kate's life ebbing fast, slipping to the floor in the waves of crimson liquid. "No," she moaned again, shaking Kate's upper body slightly, ignoring the wound and Kate's wimpers of pain, trying to jolt Kate awake.

The younger Miller felt the stabbing wood even more now, and worked her muscles hard and fought to smile as she gazed into her older sister's face through dull, wonderful eyes. "You...you're beau-beautiful," she choked, quietly, gasping again, her body jerking with every harsh intake of air. She didn't know what do say, didn't know what do do. Her mind was slowly closing down. It wasn't numb, it wasn't alive. But slowly and weakly, Kate's hand raised to touch Heather's cheek briefly, beofre falling again to limply clasp Heather's hand at her chest in one of the last controlled movements her consciousness could create. As Heather gripped it tightly, Kate watched her, studied her, taking in every detail about her loved sister before she wouldn't be able to, memorizing every crease, every dimple, every freckle. "I...love-" She began, but broke off painfully, eyes closing, coughing once, twice, a gurgling issuing from her throat. Opening her eyes again, Kate tried to clear her throat, fought to speak as she felt blackness closing in on her vision, her senses, her heart. "It's...no one's...fault," she whispered, her eyes locked onto Heather's now, not looking away, even as she hissed in pain and arched her back sharply."I love...y-you all...tell...Sam...L-Lucy...I lo-love th-them." She gulped once more, swallowing and tasting the sour, metallic blood.

"No," Heather whispered. "No, you can't leave me," she told her sister. "Why couldn't it be me?" Heather pleaded, moaning, gasping, crying, holding her beloved sister even closer to her body, now savoring every drop of blood that soaked from Kate's body into her own shirt. Heather held Kate fast, lovingly stroking her hair, whispering without thinking, "Why not me?"

"H-Heath..." Kate was fading for the last time now. Her hand gently squeezed Heather's with the last of her strength as she stared unblinkingly and lovingly into Heather's chocolate brown eyes and whispered, while coughing out a stream of thick, dark blood, "I l-love...you. For...eternity..." Her chest jerked one lsat time and her voice trailed away finally as her eyes clouded over. She was staring straight through Heather now, no longer at her, and a pool of blood could not be swallowed as it bubbled in her throat and mouth and dribbled down the corner of her blue lips and down her chin as she died.

Heather couldn't believe it. She was in shock. It couldn't have happened. This wasn't happening. Her sister was not...a dream...it was all a dream...one terrifying dream where her beloved Kate...her sister, her best friend...

"Why couldn't it have been me!" Heather suddenly screamed to the heavens. "Why her? Why Kate? What didn't you take me? Why?" She screamed hard, ignoring her protesting lungs and throat, staring at the ceiling as if waiting for an answer from above, then she was swallowed by grief. Her chest jerked from sobs that finally released from inside her, and with them flowed everything. All the feelings, emotions, thoughts, desires that had locked themselves away when her parents died now streamed from her in the form of tears and crying at the loss of her sister. Her mind did not register anything: not the pain of her own skull, the blood on her face, the hard, damp floor, her saturated clothing, the warm wetness on her arms, the pain in her heart. Heather's head dropped to Kate' cold forehead again and she clasped her sister's limp hand to her bosom, rocking back and forth on the blood-soaked floor with Kate sprawled limply and still slightly warm in her arms. Finally, after long minutes and with a huge effort, she opened her eyes and looked up with tears swimming in her eyes. With a trembling hand, forcing herself, resigned, Heather gently pressed Kate's eyelids closed over her gray, sightless eyes for the last time.

This was how the Miller sisters regained consciousness. As each opened their eyes painfully and lifted their heads from the blood-soaked ground, they all immediately sensed that something was wrong. Looking around frantically, hoping for the best but resigned somehow, to realize the worst, they would find Heather, the eldest Miller, their eldest sister, the strength and heart of their family, clutching Kate's broken and bloody body to herself. Kate did not flinch, move, breathe. She was gone. How long Heather knelt on the bloody floor, gripping her sister's shoulders with her own arms, her hands clasped around Kate's body, she did not know, but she continued to do so, her head in Kate's chest, rocking back and forth and sobbing her dead sister's name over and over.


	31. Final Goodbyes

Oni-Gil: Humph.

Catreddick4: It is not over...

Aussie-Soccerfreak4: I kinda figured "'bugger it" is an Aussie phrase! I'm proud that my story made you cry...

Kings Lioness: Ah...I supposed that it happened then, because Kate is really dead...like, dead and gone. But I'm glad you're anticipating the sequel...

Dr. Magic PhD: You will find out what the greater good is in the next volume...

A/N: Final chapter of The Choice of Eight. Do not despair, fans of the Millers and Halliwells. Their story is a long way from finishing...

-31-

Three weeks later on a cold, rainy, foggy afternoon, a flock of people clothed in black stood around a single hole in the grounds of the local cemetery, close together, sheltering under umbrellas and snuggling under cloaks and jackets. While empty now, the gaping hole was soon going to be occupied by a sleek white casket. Rain dripped off he polished, carved surface as it was lowered slowly into the ground with the help of a half-dozen men.

The three black-swathed and cloaked forms standing closest to the grave huddled closer together underneath a large, black umbrella. Standing in the middle, holding the umbrella up, was a woman with long brown hair and a smooth, tan face now wet with rain and tears. One arm was around a younger woman, whose blond hair was tied back in a French bride laced with black ribbon. Her normally bright blue eyes were dull with hopelessness and grief as her shoulders shook slightly, but she did not make a noise, even when she wept. On the other side, her auburn hair pulled back softly into a half-ponytail held with a brown clip, was the other sister, no longer the third-born, but now the middle child. A single tear slid silently down her cheek as she gripped her sister's arm in her own, watching as person after dark-clothed person drifted forward and dropped flowers into the ominous hole in the earth that was now occupied by their sister.

One by one, the other funeral-goers passed the three sisters, offering a solemn handshake, leaning in to kiss a cheek and brush aside a tear, offering condolences and sympathy. Though the three woman accepted each act and action, they made no further move nor sound.

Minutes crawled by, and still people filed by, but the sisters' eyes remained on the flower-strewn coffin in front of them. Finally, the final man had placed a gentle kiss on the youngest's cheek, and they were gone, drifting back to their own lives, leaving the three women alone with their sister. But none of them made the move forward. They simply stood, silent and withdrawn, ignoring the steady beat of raindrops that pattered their umbrella, immobile with the shock that still plagued them.

Finally, at long last, the eldest stepped forward, removing her arm from the youngest sister's shoulders and pulling her other out of the seconds grasp. Slowly, she lowered the umbrella and closed it, dropping it to the muddy ground, but no one felt the rain. In her hand, she clutched a beautiful, young, red rose, whose leaves shuddered as drops of water hit them. Slowly, as if each step took an effort beyond any she had imagined, she approached the grave and stopped, gazing down at the case of light metal hiding her sister.

Somewhere in there, she lay on gentle cushions, her once warm hands now icy in death and clasped gently on her sternum. The mortal wound on her stomach was sewed together and cleaned, but it had been done too late to save her life. A fresh gown now clothed her, white and angelic around her. And her face. It had been smoothed from a gritting, painful, hard look, and was now calm, her lips slightly smiling, as if she was in peace and happiness. Her eyes were still gently closed. No longer would those eyes flash with a grin, or take in another book's contents, or narrow with concern, or shine with love. No longer would she run with her sisters, or hold them close, cuddling them and comforting them, colling as she smoothed their tousled hair into a braid or a complexly beautiful style. No longer would she be the voice of reason when her family needed it the most. No longer would she go quietly about her chores and job. No longer would she lay in her husband's arms as they all watched TV or a movie together. No longer would she join them in a sister's room to talk. She couldn't. Not anymore.

Struggling to hold back a wail of grief, the eldest sister came back into reality and, after a slightly pause, gently tossed the rose into the grave where it bounced once on it's buoyant leaves, then settled to rest forever. She stared at it for a few seconds, then opened her mouth to speak. No words came out at first. Then, she said, quietly, almost whispering, "I'm sorry. I love you. You know that? I'd give my life to have you back. Please, don't desert us for good. I'm sorry that I put you in danger." She broke off, a sob finally escaping her lips. She clamped a small black handkerchief to her mouth, holding back further grief, then managed to speak again, her voice cracking and tears filling her vision. "I'm sorry for everything. I love you so much." Unable to continue, she put a hand to her face, hiding it, and turned back, slowly walking toward her sister and fell into the youngest's arms as the third-born approached the grave.

In her trembling fingers, she, too, held a crimson rose that was just beginning to bloom. She did not want to think about her sister. If she did, she would be consumed in grief and anguish and she had to remain strong for her other sisters. So,m as she looked upon the casket, she closed her eyes, but only to see light, knowledge-filled eyes staring back at her, sightless and lost. She shook her head slightly and wrenched her eyes open. "I..." She took a breath to steady her pounding, painful heart. "I'm sorry I didn't-didn't protect you as I should have. I've done if before and I should have done it again. I was stupid to have my back to the door, or not to notice those reinforcements..." she gasped again against the tears wrenchingly. When she was calmer, she whispered. "I miss you so much." And without another word, tossed her flower into the hole and returned to her sisters, not looking back. Folding herself into the eldest's embrace, she buried her head in her sister's shoulder and didn't see the youngest approach the coffin.

This one held a third rose in her long fingers and she fumbled with it as she stared don at the the other roses that lay across each other on top of the casket. Taking a breath, she remembered here sister's warm smile, her deep, intelligent gaze, her soft and gentle touch and her hard, firm ,loving embrace. She remembered days of intense heat when she and her sister were out on the fields, kicking a soccer ball back and forth. She might not have looked it, but her sister was very athletic and loved to kick a ball around with her youngest sister. The blond-haired girl smiled slightly as she remembered her older sister's arm thrown about her shoulder as they walked through the neighborhood, discussing guys, games, everything. She remembered a rainy day like this one where her older sister had tackled her into the mud and tickled her excessively, and then they had rolled in the mud together, forgetting their age, forgetting everything.

Her blue eyes swam with tears and she withdrew slowly back into reality. The rose in her hand pricked her finger gently, a reminder. "I love you," was all she said before dropping the rose down as well, where it settled atop the other two gently, caressing. Then, the youngest turned and joined her sisters, joining their embrace.

The three watched as men approached the grave with shovels and knew it was time to leave, for they could not bear to watch anymore. Together, they turned and began to walk slowly back to their car, but a sight met them that brought them to a halt.

Another family of sisters stood a little ways off, their arms around each other's shoulders comfortingly. On one end, the second-youngest sister stood, her light brown hair tied back in spirals around her head, tears in her eyes, her arms around her youngest sister, whose dark hair lay limp at her shoulders and whose eyes were on the ground, a bit awkwardly, but grief-stricken nonetheless. Beside her was the eldest, her black hair stiffly curled, and she was clothed in a long black overcoat, staring at the other family with intense eyes. The second born was holding the eldest's hand gently, her other hand on her stomach. Her long brown hair was in a half-ponytail, the absence of hair on her face accentuating her mouth and eyes, which were also on the three women approaching them.

Not a word was spoken as the two family's met each other. They all stood silently, just staring at one another, examining each other's eyes, searching for anything that would break the silence.

Then the eldest Charmed One stepped forward and held out her arms to the eldest of the three mourning sisters. Heather tried to smile, but instead, felt the anguish wash over her. She threw herself into Prue Halliwell's arms, breaking down into tears again, her sobs wrenching her throat and tears dampening Prue's coat. Prue held her tightly, her chin on Heather's shoulder and her arms clasped about he. She did not speak nor make a sound at all. Just let the other cry.

Lucy Miller went abruptly to Phoebe, who gathered her up in an embrace, shushing her and stroking her hair, kissing her forehead, trying to do anything to comfort the youngest Magicked One.

Piper Halliwell held out her arms to Samantha, the third-born Miller, but Samantha did not seem to notice. She was staring beyond Piper into the distance, her gaze unfocused. Then, suddenly, she yelled out loud in grief and dropped to her knees, oblivious to the mud-soaked puddle that she had collapsed into, and cried, her hands covering her face, her shoulders shaking with weeping. Startled, Piper looked abruptly to her youngest sister, who reached out a hand to her in response. The woman took it, and together, Paige and Piper looked helplessly on as Samantha wallowed in her sadness, drenched in the ill-timed rain and resulting mud.

This is how they remained for some time. They would return home, later, with heavy hearts and dry eyes and attempt to bring their lives back to normal. They would still have each other. All would return. All of them but one. One remained behind forever. A part of a legacy. A part of a legend. A part of a prophesy. A part of a family.


End file.
